The quality of your decisions depends on the quality of your thinking
Summary
- The better the quality of our information, the better our decision making will be
- The quality of our thoughts is related to the quality of our information
Details
- HiFi principle: Get high-fidelity information by getting information as close to the source as possible
- HiEx principle: get high quality information by getting from experts
- When listening to people, even if we dont agree with them we can still learn valuable information, for example how they see the world.
References
Quotes
"the hifi principle: Get high-fidelity (HiFi) information—information that’s close to the source and unfiltered by other people’s biases and interests.
The quality of your decisions is directly related to the quality of your thoughts. The quality of your thoughts is directly related to the quality ofyour information. Many people treat all sources of information as if they’re equally valid. They’re not. While you might value getting everyone’s opinion, that doesn’t mean each opinion should be equally weighted or considered.
The amount of information that bombards us daily can feel overwhelming. But the further the information is from the original source, the more filters it’s been through before getting to you. Living on a diet of abstractions is like living on a diet of junk food: it has less nutritional value—less information content, which means you’re not learning as much.
When you’re getting information from other people, you need to keep an open mind. That means withholding your own judgment as long as possible. People often undermine the information-gathering process by subjecting others to their judgments, beliefs, and perspective. The point isn’t to argue or disagree, however. Judging people and telling them they’re wrong only shuts them down and prevents a free flow of information. When you’re gathering information, your job is to see the world through other people’s eyes. You’re trying to understand their experience and how they processed it. You can learn valuable information even when you don’t agree with their view of the world. Just ask questions, keep your thoughts to yourself, and remain curious about other perspectives.
the hiex principle: Get high-expertise (HiEx) information, which comes both from people with a lot of knowledge and/or experience in a specific area, and from people with knowledge and experience in many areas.