TBU v TAU

Daily we are bombarded with information, every piece vying for our
attention. The problem is each; fact, statistic, survey result, opinion,
piece of anecdotal evidence, has it own subjective truth.

So, the question is not so much – Is it true, but is it useful?

Much of what we hear and read may well be true but is often pretty useless.
It's the information equivalent of fast food. It may taste good but it has
no nutritional value.

This type of information is clogging up the system and making decision
making more difficult. One approach is to use the abbreviation TBU = True
But Useless, to tag information.

Here is a challenge. Tomorrow write down anything that you see/read/hear
that is
'True But Useless' in terms of you making decisions. I am confident you will
be surprised at how many things you write down. This is the clutter that is
potentially hampering your ability to make good decisions.

There is a serious point to this game. By raising your awareness in this way
it encourages you to focus and to start evaluating what you are told or
read, not on the basis of whether its true, but on whether its useful. It
shifts the emphasis from being 'I don't believe YOU/IT' (Extrinsic) to 'Its
not useful to ME' (intrinsic).

Of course, what we need is information that is TAU …. True AND Useful !

This is unlikely to occur by asking more and more questions in the hope that
something useful will drop out.

What is needed is deep thought about what we are trying to achieve. What is
the purpose? Only then will the TAU information present itself.