Data isn't information. ... Information, unlike data, is useful. While there's a gulf between data and information, there's a wide ocean between information and knowledge. What turns the gears in our brains isn't information, but ideas, inventions, and inspiration. Knowledge-not information-implies understanding. And beyond knowledge lies what we should be seeking: wisdom.
If you really want to know about the future, don't ask a technologist, a scientist, a physicist. No! Don't ask somebody who's writing code. No, if you want to know what society's going to be like in 20 years, ask a kindergarten teacher.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of understanding societal change through the perspective of educators rather than technical experts.
Clifford Stoll highlights the idea that the future of society is shaped more significantly by the values, knowledge, and emotional intelligence imparted by educators, particularly kindergarten teachers, than by the technological advancements or scientific developments proposed by technologists and scientists. This suggests that the foundational experiences and social interactions fostered in early education play a crucial role in shaping the future culture and behavior of individuals in society.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the future of technology, one might quote this to emphasize the role of education.
More from Clifford Stoll
All quotes →Data is not information, Information is not knowledge, Knowledge is not understanding, Understanding is not wisdom.
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Take young researchers, put them together in virtual seclusion, give them an unprecedented degree of freedom and turn up the pressure by fostering competitiveness.
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I was born 50 years after slavery, in 1913. I was allowed to read. My mother, who was a teacher, taught me when I was a very young child. The first school I attended was a small building that went from first to sixth grade. There was one teacher for all of the students. There could be anywhere from 50 to 60 students of all different ages.