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Information Knowledge Wisdom: DIKW Pyramid

Data refers to raw facts and figures that have not been analyzed, while information is data that has been analyzed and organized in a meaningful way. Knowledge is understanding based on experience with information on a subject. Wisdom involves applying knowledge practically in situations where good judgment can result. Data becomes information through interpretation, information becomes knowledge through understanding, and knowledge leads to wisdom through application.

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113 views2 pages

Information Knowledge Wisdom: DIKW Pyramid

Data refers to raw facts and figures that have not been analyzed, while information is data that has been analyzed and organized in a meaningful way. Knowledge is understanding based on experience with information on a subject. Wisdom involves applying knowledge practically in situations where good judgment can result. Data becomes information through interpretation, information becomes knowledge through understanding, and knowledge leads to wisdom through application.

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See also: DIKW pyramid

Data, information, knowledge, and wisdom are closely related concepts, but each has its role
concerning the other, and each term has its meaning. According to a common view, data is
collected and analyzed; data only becomes information suitable for making decisions once it
has been analyzed in some fashion.[8] One can say that the extent to which a set of data is
informative to someone depends on the extent to which it is unexpected by that person. The
amount of information contained in a data stream may be characterized by its Shannon
entropy.

Knowledge is the understanding based on extensive experience dealing with information on a


subject. For example, the height of Mount Everest is generally considered data. The height
can be measured precisely with an altimeter and entered into a database. This data may be
included in a book along with other data on Mount Everest to describe the mountain in a
manner useful for those who wish to decide on the best method to climb it. An understanding
based on experience climbing mountains that could advise persons on the way to reach
Mount Everest's peak may be seen as "knowledge". The practical climbing of Mount
Everest's peak based on this knowledge may be seen as "wisdom". In other words, wisdom
refers to the practical application of a person's knowledge in those circumstances where good
may result. Thus wisdom complements and completes the series "data", "information" and
"knowledge" of increasingly abstract concepts.

Data is often assumed to be the least abstract concept, information the next least, and
knowledge the most abstract.[9] In this view, data becomes information by interpretation; e.g.,
the height of Mount Everest is generally considered "data", a book on Mount Everest
geological characteristics may be considered "information", and a climber's guidebook
containing practical information on the best way to reach Mount Everest's peak may be
considered "knowledge". "Information" bears a diversity of meanings that ranges from
everyday usage to technical use. This view, however, has also been argued to reverse how
data emerges from information, and information from knowledge.[10] Generally speaking, the
concept of information is closely related to notions of constraint, communication, control,
data, form, instruction, knowledge, meaning, mental stimulus, pattern, perception, and
representation. Beynon-Davies uses the concept of a sign to differentiate between data and
information; data is a series of symbols, while information occurs when the symbols are used
to refer to something.[11][12]

Before the development of computing devices and machines, people had to manually collect
data and impose patterns on it. Since the development of computing devices and machines,
these devices can also collect data. In the 2010s, computers are widely used in many fields to
collect data and sort or process it, in disciplines ranging from marketing, analysis of social
services usage by citizens to scientific research. These patterns in data are seen as
information that can be used to enhance knowledge. These patterns may be interpreted as
"truth" (though "truth" can be a subjective concept) and may be authorized as aesthetic and
ethical criteria in some disciplines or cultures. Events that leave behind perceivable physical
or virtual remains can be traced back through data. Marks are no longer considered data once
the link between the mark and observation is broken.[13]

Mechanical computing devices are classified according to how they represent data. An analog
computer represents a datum as a voltage, distance, position, or other physical quantity. A
digital computer represents a piece of data as a sequence of symbols drawn from a fixed
alphabet. The most common digital computers use a binary alphabet, that is, an alphabet of
two characters typically denoted "0" and "1". More familiar representations, such as numbers
or letters, are then constructed from the binary alphabet. Some special forms of data are
distinguished. A computer program is a collection of data, which can be interpreted as
instructions. Most computer languages make a distinction between programs and the other
data on which programs operate, but in some languages, notably Lisp and similar languages,
programs are essentially indistinguishable from other data. It is also useful to distinguish
metadata, that is, a description of other data. A similar yet earlier term for metadata is
"ancillary data." The prototypical example of metadata is the library catalog, which is a
description of the contents of books.

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