Data tsunami

A tsunami is constantly bombarding us – a data tsunami, that is. It’s drowning some, overwhelming many and empowering some others.

Google chief Eric Schmidt said, “There were five exabytes (a billion gigabytes) of information created between the dawn of civilization through 2003. But that much information is now created every two days, and the pace is increasing.” That’s a lot of information right there.

Some people complain that life has become too rushed and complicated because of information overload. I beg to disagree. I don’t think that information abundance is the problem; I think the inability to sort out information is the challenge for many. American writer Clay Shirty argues, “There is no such thing as information overload, there’s only filter failure.”

This filter failure has proven a gold mine for people in the tech industries. Where there’s a need, there’s an opportunity to earn. And it’s apparent that now, as in the coming years, we would need computer programs and tools to analyze our needs, and recommend the information we really need (and tell us to buy more and spend more). “Knowledge is power,” goes the buzzword from a couple of years ago.

But there’s an irony here: while technology and information access constantly get upgraded, the power for moral living steadily degrades. Just consider the Philippines: while I celebrate with our country’s 7.1-percent GDP growth, I cringe at our teenage pregnancy rate which now ranks second highest in South East Asia, and our teenage smoking rate which is now the highest in the region. A few more years, and we’ll see more of our youth living even more devastated lives, and no software or techy tool in the world would be able to help them.

Parents need to help their kids to sort out and filter the information tsunami that bombards them every day, to distinguish which information would be of help to them and which could destroy them.

Knowledge is not necessarily power. Many knowledgeable people do stupid things. Neither is information power. Even in our high-speed-broadband-connected society, broken families and failed marriages abound. We need to sort and filter information and recommendations that would really help us live better lives.

My way of dealing with the information tsunami is to go back to the simplicity of the Word. Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is the Magna Carta of Christian living. Proverbs’ 31 chapters are a key to growing in wisdom. The adventures of Moses, the feats of Daniel, Joseph and King David, the Book of Acts, the journeys of Paul – these are information we need to know and pass on to our kids as recommendations for fullness and correct living.

We could be drowning in general information, but still be starving for biblical knowledge, the knowledge that can help us live successful lives. The knowledge that is truly power. And while today’s breakthrough technology becomes a relic of the past tomorrow, this knowledge of the Word of God will endure and remain powerful.

Learn to sort. Learn to filter.

(Attend “Inspiring Excellence” March 1, 2013 at the SMX Convention Center. Learn best practices and be inspired  from the industry’s best featuring Butch Jimenez, Alex Lacson, Chinkee Tan and Francis Kong. For further inquiries contact Inspire Leadership Consultancy Inc. 632-6310912.)