In the broadest sense, information is used in one of three ways:
To discover
Observe and record
To communicate
Share and convince
To coordinate
Align, synchronize and transact
Information looks different in each of these modes. In some instances, there is more ambiguity and the need for free form data. In other situations, more structure is necessary with less ambiguity is required.
Most people, most organizations and most software tools don’t make those distinctions particularly well. In fact, many of us try to blend all that information together.
The moment that you move information from one phase to another is not absolute.
So we are stuck with a continuum of information in different states sometimes in a singular monolithic system, and sometimes in completely disconnected ways.
Realizing that information is in different states and that individuals are not always aligned with this asynchronous diffusion of knowledge is one way to improve the situation.
Because information is strongly tied to beliefs, it is hard to represent information without bias.
