The Deputy Dean of Commerce at the institution of my academic studies ( an engaging and informed lady ) recently made the comment that universities are not places where you go obtain a degree, but rather where you go and obtain skills. Folks of the lesser cerebral encompassing ability would quickly point out that, that statement would render examinations an act of futility, but that is not the focus of this blog nor my place to determine cerebral capacities. What the lady was correctly hinting fixating on, was the fact that the world today is smaller, faster and more integrated than ever, meaning that the demand and flow of information is a prized commodity. Yet, the impact of this is counter-intuitive, as individuals seek to specialize in their fields, whilst all individuals seek to learn more about everything. Surely these two actions are counter-productive as no individual ends better off, an assumption I am willing to accept. Now that the (boring ?) framework for my discussion has been outlined, let me see if I am worthy of Deputy Dean skill adequacy levels.
Every day we are bombarded with new information, or rather stale information, depending on your source or manner of accessing this information. Any auditor worth a penny would tell you that the integrity of information is dependent on its Validity, Accuracy and Completeness. Take for example a regular billboard from one "newspaper" called the Daily Sun that indicates that a 'gogo' (elderly woman,) robbed a bank, would be scrutinized for its validity levels. The recurring exclamation marks on billboards every! single! day! also brings the English language into disrepute! As a sidenote, were the full stop or comma buttons deactivated at the Daily Sun billboard production facility ! (They'd probably have an exclamation mark at the end of that lame joke too) . Sadly but entertainingly, an encounter with a few of Cape Town's beggars is like having a talking Daily Sun article, but that's an issue for another day.
Stepping up the level of information gathering and moving onto state owned affiliated news broadcaster ANN, a valiant argument for accuracy could be made. Take beleaguered Aussie cricket captain, who not only had to face the humiliation of losing the Ashes to the Cosmopolitan XI, but had his named rubbed in the dirt by the "sport" presenter who referred to him as "Michelle" Clarke, to a a live audience of uhmmmm nobody, and an increasing Youtube audience. Geez, I get that his teammates call him Pup, but show some respect woman ! ( That exclamation needs a #NoDailySun to emphasize its importance and accurate use) Another example could be the tax return form submitted by Comrade Julius Malema to SARS, oh schuks, wouldn't that be reaching that unchartered waters of not meeting any of the above qualities ? Rather we avoid contentious issues and move swiftly along. Accuracy of any Roman Poite refereeing decisions ? I thought we agreed to cut the contentious out, let's play nice !
Completeness made me think rather profusely, before examples came flooding to me like a Piers Morgan Twitter rant. The trick was asking "When are we not being told the whole story here?" and in most cases, that involves levels of bias. On a domestic front, think of any briefing session held by Mac Maharaj or any response to what the Nkandla compound holds, wading into highly murky waters. Foreign diplomats also provide swayed perceptions of global events with relative comfort. Bringing the discussion closer to home, directly into your lounges, watch a football game with Manchester United supporters to expose yourself to the delicate balance in achieving Completeness. Case Closed.
Now, ladies and gentleman of the mass acceptance, the trick to beating the system is not in being good, but being better than the rest. Intuitively, if we all read the same information and accept all this information, we'd just cancel each other out. It's always rewarding to gather your information from new (reputable) sources and diversify your knowledge pool. In terms of everyday conversation, people who know the daily moans and groans of the newspapers make for highly tedious conversation, because chances are, they've read the same opinion piece as you have and haven't formed their own opinions. A case in point being most rugby predictions I get from friends, hinge suspiciously on pundits exact words.
This blog piece also shouldn't be a platform for you to collect useless information, as a general rule, most shows on E!Entertainment should be avoided. I rarely see the need to know that some Kardashian sister is on her yacht and which Kardashian doesn't want to leave London ( as you can tell, I'm working of sketchy third hand information *yawn*), unless you want to join a sorority. No gossip will ever meet the Valid, Accurate and Complete standard, so that's a huge no-no. I'm no Mike Ross by any standard, but I've accumulated plenty of useless information that could be useful to my field of study or my everyday conversation. Just today I learnt that the South African VAT system was 'stolen' as a concept from New Zealand or, that France is planning an increase in household taxes as they tighten fiscal policy or that there was a hyena on the loose somewhere. Intriguing stuff.
To put an end to this rant, as the clock in the bottom of my screen signals 2:19am, my point is that get your daily dose of Diary of a Guji Girl or Diary of a Zulu Girl, or whatever floats your boat, but getting ahead means that you get the edge. And if you can't bother to read the news, you sure as hell better learn to read people. I leave you with the (paraphrased) words from August Rush - " The information is all around you, all you have to do is just listen"
Full disclosure:
If you didn't apply Valid, Accurate and Complete to every thing I just said, you've wasted 5 minutes of your precious life.
Gogo's can rob banks, but the Daily Sun needs new material other than muthi or sangoma related stories.
On last order of business, this is not something a gentleman should say or heard from me, but Youtube "Poop-Pourri"
