Interpretation

We rely a great deal on our abilities to make sense of the information we consume. However, in today’s day and age, making sense of something (or making sense at all in some situations) is an extremely rare commodity.

There are some necessary components of proper interpretation, which we will take a look at today.

“All things are subject to interpretation. Whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of power and not truth.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche

This isn’t really a secret anymore, that we live in the information age. There is enough and more information out there on every subject imaginable. Also, whatever information we need, we have the ability to find sources in our preferred language, medium (audio, text, video, short video) and duration.

And even more interestingly, all of us are now enabled to access this information within seconds of conceiving the idea of the need of this information.

The I-P-O Framework

Cell phones, computers, tablets, smart glasses, etc. are all geared to make us smart at our beck and call. To substantiate my point today, it is pertinent that we look at how these devices work. All of these devices work on an I-P-O framework. I-P-O stands for input, process and output.

These devices receive inputs from us, other systems or other programs within these devices. These inputs are then processed, partially by the devices themselves or fed further into an internet enabled server. Based on the inputs and the processing applied, we get relevant outputs.

The conclusion here is that the outputs from these devices are a function of the inputs we provide, and the processing our inputs go through.

Now that I have set the right context, I can communicate my point effectively.

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Coming back to the information age, we discussed that we now have all sorts of information on all subjects of our choice, it’s just a matter of finding it. Also, we have a lot more freedom to choose the format in which we want to consume the information.

As of the day of this writing, the predominant form of content/information consumption is via short videos, also popularly known as TikToks or reels. For the uninitiated (which I would love to be again), the prevailing duration of these videos ranges anywhere between 15 seconds to a minute.

It is a no-brainer, that short form content has been garnering so much patronage. It takes less time to get relevant information we need. Also, it’s less effort than reading, taking a course, watching an educational video or a documentary on the same subject.

There is a paramount principle behind this as well. Our brains always look for the least effortful way of accomplishing a task. This principle is fondly called the path of least resistance. There is an evolutionary reason, the early man had to fight carnivores to ensure sustenance, and that needed all the energy he could preserve.

We discussed about the benefits of short form content. There is a severe disadvantage of this though, which is just as much of a no-brainer. There is less information in shorter videos. I mean, it is impossible to understand any subject in one minute of less, which has been studied for years, if not decades.

Since every piece of content is being held responsible to capture as much attention as possible, in as little time as possible, overriding context gets lost. And for someone who is yet to understand the subject completely, would start to operate on the limited information that they just consumed.

In short, context is extremely important, when its come to any so called fact.

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The “P” in the framework, our processing systems, are our values and beliefs. Therefore, how we perceive any piece of information will be a function of our values and belief systems.

Our processing systems also get altered by the information we on a regular basis. So, if we continue to ingest faulty information with the perception of it being correct, we are dooming ourselves to a life of undesirable outcomes.

In short, our perception would determine our understanding of a subject, and thereby our consequent actions.

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I have tried to emphasise the gravity of consuming complete information, but since I would like for people to get the most in the minimum time (I know, hypocritical), here is the TL; DR of the article.

Fundamentals of interpretation:

1. Context is important.

2. Perception is everything.

If you stuck around this far, thank you for your time. If you enjoyed this, share this with one friend of yours whom you think will benefit from reading this. Thanks for reading, and I will see you in the next one. 🙂