Who’s Your Guru?
Who's Your Guru Baby?
We live in a connected world. But do you ever wonder just who you’re really connected to?
A torrent of information at your finger tips. In a fraction of a second you have access to nearly anything you could imagine ever wanting to know.
Who wrote the screenplay to Gone with the Wind? Shazamm, you’ve got it in a Wiki instant.
Want to know how to lose those last (winky, winky) 10 lbs. of unsightly body-fat or how to add 27 pounds of lean, sculpted muscle in 28 days… click, whir, booom! You got it!
It’s a miracle I tell you! A miracle!
Or is it? Think again.
There’s a problem, an inherent problem, with all this information. You see, the published word used to be like the NFL, you had to work your ass of to earn the right and still only a fraction of those who slaved their lives away to get a chance made the cut.
There once was a process in place that worked as an invisible filter for the 99% of crap you’d never want to see.
Well, here, Dr. Andrew Weil says it well:
Before the Internet, data had to undergo a Darwinian selection process before it reached the masses. Paper, ink and distribution cost money and time. That usually meant someone exerted quality control to ensure that whatever was communicated was worth buying. With distribution and consumption now virtually free, that constraint is gone. Francis Heylighen, a cyberneticist at the Free University of Brussels, wrote that the resulting explosion of “irrelevant, unclear, and simply erroneous data fragments” might best be termed “data smog.” [More on Data Smog here]
Dr. Weil makes a great, valid point. One that I first spoke about in the late 90′s, long before the advent of blogs, (yes, like this one) made matters even worse.
So, What Are You Supposed To Do?
Given the amount of information that flows through your computer screen(s) on a weekly basis, chances are very good that you’re getting something from this guy (see the Guru above). Okay, maybe not that one but you get the point.
It’s harder than ever to determine who’s info is worthy of your time and attention. Unfortunately, there is no simple formula, no Guru-divining rod. So, you’re left with your senses and your instinct.
Here are a few basic guidelines which may help:
- Question everything. Ask yourself what the motive is. Not all motive is bad but you should just be thinking about it.
- Look to follow people who’ve heard of, a friend told you about…
- Don’t confuse e-books with books… as in “REAL books.” Too many guru’s these days are producing e-books because of the ease and lack of boundaries. And they can be fine, even great but there’s a big, big difference between an e-book and a real, major publisher hard bound book.
- Don’t put too much stock in their images / photos but still look for them. Some have gotten fit but don’t keep it. Others… not.
- Check their Facebook profiles to see if they are human or just marketers. Some folks simply sell and never really relate to anyone on the team.
Real hard cover books may be on their way out but their still the gold standard. And I’m hear to tell you, you don’t get one by accident nor does an editor let you off any page easy.
Consider this a warning, it’s dangerous out there, and in your computer. And it’s going to get crazier as we move on, not less.
Stay Strong, Stay Safe… be wise.
Related posts:
About The Author
Twitter
Facebook
