Dr Asangba Tzudir
In this age of information, being well-informed is vital to enhance the dissemination of knowledge and information. To be well-informed means to have a well-grounded knowledge base. Beyond truth and falsity, facts and universality of knowledge, for the Greek Philosopher Plato, for something to be labelled as knowledge there has to be a firm belief and that the belief should be true, and finally the truth of that belief should be subject to justification. Thus, knowledge is justified true belief.
More so, at every level of human activity, decision making is an integral component and which calls upon knowledge and wisdom, so that it results in well-informed decisions. Making well-informed decisions requires the identification of the larger objectives and the issues and problems therein, and based on the area, it requires collecting data and information, analyse and synthesize, and then brainstorming the outcomes and even considering the alternatives before enacting the plan.
When it comes to decision making in relation to policies that lie at the heart of the clash of interests among the public, so also between the government and the public, arriving at a well-informed decision requires identifying the contention and trying to sort out the contention through consultative dialogues taking everyone on board. Further, the materialization of well-informed decisions also needs timely execution before the expiry of the relevance of the well-informed decisions. Being well-informed at various levels of the issue was found wanting in the recent DC Office Dimapur shifting fiasco.
Also, there is always the larger question - whose interest? For the larger good of the society, and in capturing the sense and essence, any policy or decision before it is finalised needs to go through certain filters – the filter of truth, the filter of goodness, and the filter of usefulness in relation to what is being considered knowledge and information. This is bound to create meaningful returns.
On the whole, especially at the level of government as the source of information, there has to be some kind of transparency by way of channelling of knowledge and information. However, this is an area that is still inadequate and it sets a dangerous precedent because such inadequacies are bound to mislead the people. In order to create a basis for a well-informed people and the society at large, it calls for transparency, and which is also validated or invalidated by whether the seat of storing and disseminating information especially the websites are being updated. If not, it is bound to mislead people rather than help the people become well-informed.
While a good decision is at the mercy of being well-informed, it is also made more challenging by the rate of flow of information and the difficulty of authentication, where many a time we are made to eat the elephants buffet. As such one needs to contextualize the knowledge and information filters in relation to truth, goodness and usefulness which in turn would help one apply it productively and meaningfully.
(Dr Asangba Tzudir writes a weekly guest editorial for The Morung Express. Comments can be mailed to asangtz@gmail.com)
