Until the lens of experience focuses information, it does almost no good. No matter how much the marketing machines of the Information Age would have us think otherwise, information by itself isn’t power: knowledge is. And turning information into knowledge requires more time, experience, and effort than an afternoon spent starting at a screen full of facts.
Information is passive. To make it knowledge, you need to assimilate it. Put it in context. Understand it. Knowledge streamlines and focuses our relationship with information. Knowledge helps us avoid information we don’t want or need and leaves us with the stuff we can use.
In an age in which endless amounts of bits and bytes are always available, it’s a daunting task to spot the worthwhile stuff. It’s easy for the Net to overwhelm us or lull us into the misconception that simply having access to something is as good as knowing it.
– Michael Penwarden