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The terms data, information, knowledge, and wisdom are tossed around so often that they are at times assumed to be one in the same (typically data and information and knowledge and wisdom). This is a fool’s assumption.

Data is raw facts. It has no meaning or context by itself. Take for example a list of people. The list itself has yet to be titled, so all it is at the moment is a collection of data. Now if you were to title that list you would give that data context. It would mean something; in other words, it would become information. Knowledge and wisdom suffer a similar fate. Knowledge is how well the information is known by an individual. Staying with the example of the list of people, let’s assume it is a class list. A professor could very easily memorize this list of people, and he or she could be said to be knowledgeable of that information. Wisdom, however, is the ability to utilize that knowledge. A professor with wisdom would know which name corresponded with what person in their class, and might even remember some things about those people that the list might not tell him such as what they are struggling with in class.

May that clear those definitions.

Cheers,
Eric Summers