"...we are stuck making imperfect decisions"

Think about your last major decision. You may have recently bought a new house or car. Maybe you need to find a healthcare provider or specialist. Or maybe you are simply preparing to vote on election day. What steps do you take to find your answers?

My area of interest within the field of Information Science is information behavior. I am particularly interested in information-seeking behavior. After reading and some writing, I am growing to appreciate the synergy between information-seeking behavior and the supportive networks that underpin it.

We all engage in information-seeking behavior. This process, driven by our innate curiosity, consists of a handful of steps: information needs, sources of information, search strategies, and the evaluation of the sources. 

I'm currently working on a project at work. I cannot say much about it yet, but I for now, I will just say that I am conducting focus groups to better understand the information behavior of graduate students. I was shocked to learn just how integral ​people, and the communities they form, are to the way we seek, share, and utilize information. As someone who is also interested in human-computer interaction, I was surprised to learn that participants spent most of their time talking about the connections they formed instead of hours spent on a phone or computer. But what happens when those sources are limited or uninformed?

Despite the well-intentioned advice and support we receive from others in our information-seeking endeavors, we must also  acknowledge that human imperfections can sometimes lead us astray. No matter who you are, how many degrees you have, where you were born, or how many countries you have traveled to, every person comes to every situation with a unique set of biases, doubts, and limitations...all of which color the information we provide, consciously or unconsciously. Recognizing these inherent human qualities is the first step in critically evaluating the guidance we receive. Does that mean that, we should all learn about information retrieval computing models and master the nuances of Boolean logic? Well, no. Humans influence those systems too. I guess that means we are stuck making imperfect decisions.

I have had a hard time grappling with this as a perfectionist and someone who constantly lives with "what-ifs."  I did not mean for this post to cause trust issues, nor am I suggesting that you stop leveraging the power of people. I am hoping that you will embrace the complexity of information-seeking behavior, acknowledging our shared humanity with all its quirks. In our quest for knowledge, it's not just about who or what we trust, but how we trust — by being informed, open-minded, and resilient seekers of information.