Chapter 16
Preprocessing of information
K: Do the information that will be processed to convert into knowledge goes through the formal processing?
Me: That is a great thought. How did you come to think of it?
K: If there is process, then there should be a pre-processing.
I heard its from you in the past in different contexts. It is all about patterns.
Me: Pre-processing results in lesser processing over-heads. Both in time taken and effort put in. This happens in most situations in day-to-day life.
You can say, pre-processing is the first stage of any process. Before you cut vegetables for cooking, you clean them in fresh water to avoid dust or non-food parts accompanying them are removed.
K: What is the difference between a process step and pre-process.?
Me: It is a preparatory step before the real process start. Distinct from process steps.
If we take the example of cooking, the preprocessing steps might involve segregation, washing and also ensuring that no non-food items are sticking to the vegetable meant for cooking. Peeling of skins of certain vegetables, Cutting, frying, roasting, boiling, adding different vegetables together adding spice are typical processes of cooking.
Washing makes it clean but certainly does not make it eatable. It would ensure after processing the food is fit for consumption so that the effort of cooking does not go waste.
Another example is, admission of children in most Public schools in India. We admit a child to school to learn from the teachers. There is no need to interview a 3 year child or other parents. Because the parents need not be a part of teaching processes in the school.
Interviewing the parents of a child, before processing the application for admission is done to ensure that the responsibility to educate the child is shifted to the parents. The teachers in school will merely guide the parents on what the child should be educated. Appraise the parents on the student’s performance and what more efforts the parents shout put.
By preprocessing and identifying children whose parents are capable of teaching a student at home reduces the burden on teachers in the school to teach.
Truly speaking, the parents should be interviewing the teachers before admission, before they seek to buy application form paying a couple of thousand rupees.
Though this may sound crazy, most educated parents have accepted this as a reality. Worst still, they give the credit to the school after doing all what the school should be doing.
This you may observe that pre- processing takes place in every walk of our day-to-day life to various extents. Typical examples are (1) selecting a person for employment. (2) Treatment for ailment in a corporate hospital. (3) Organising an arranged marriage and (4) Travel abroad
K: This is a good lesson for me. I will ensure that I will find-out preprocessing scope in any of the activities I undertake. Now I eagerly await to hear what preprocessing will be done with the information we learn before be convert them into knowledge.
Me: There is a problem. Here onwards, one should use their imagination. At best I can draw parallel from real world so that imagining all that follows is possible.
We hold in our memory several instances of identical news or information. There is no need to clog our mind with redundant information, Removing redundant information from memory.
K: The idea sounds good. But my mind tell me that is not in our control.
Me: You can make your mind to do anything you want.
Why remember any incident or news item while many might have already forgotten?
K: Fear ? Fear that we might also face the same,
Me: You are very right.
You remember any news that are life threatening events, one that may lead one to poverty and such. Some times, we remember events and information that would help us to reach our dream destinations.
Now, your mind tells you that several people have become poorer because the money invested in private finance companies were lost by many of them. You have a fear that you might also loose, should you invest in one.
You also read in news papers that thieves raid the house when you are away for some days. You cannot keep it safe at home either. You are able to remember because you have a concern, a fear in your mind.
Now, you process your fears into knowledge. The preprocessing is to recall all that instances of fraud reported in press. The common among them is the offer of higher interest rates. Banks give low. interest.
K: Ever since you told me that we will discuss all about knowledge, I was waiting for this day and this moment.
Tell me about processing of information and extracting knowledge.
Me: Now we will start the process all that information and the result of the process is to come to a simple conclusion your knowledge.
In the foregoing example, the Knowledge you get after processing is that “investment in any private finance company is risky. Those offering higher interest rates, do so to exploit the greed or foolishness of the people If you cannot afford to risk your entire investment, take a safe route and that is investment in Government run banks. Do not look at investing in private finance companies”.
This is the essence of all the related informations that may run to several pages of news.. We call the essence as knowledge.
K: Before we proceed to see different processes to convert information into knowledge, will you briefly tell what is Wisdom and why knowledge alone is insufficient?
Me: That is the next logical step. Anything held in conscious memory will be lost with more and more sensational news reach us/ Like information, knowledge that we process and remember will also be lost. That is why, many people get into the same problem again and again. Commit same mistakes. We tell that these people have not learnt a lesson from their mistakes.
The most safe place when you will never loose in your entire life tiime is subconscious mind Some how the knowledge must be transferred to subconscious mind. By doing so, you will never be in trouble for the same problem.
Example of investment is:
When you have surplus funds and a private finance company approaches you for investment - soon on hearing someone coming from a private finance company, you do not even think.. You react subconsciously, saying a NO.
Now you find your fear is gone. The news of cheating by finance companies would vanish from your memory for ever and you will never have a fear on investments.
In the conscious memory in your mind, you start accumulating new information.
K: That is wonderful sir. We will move on to Processes now.