As said earlier, most of us do not have the option to withdraw and, to the contrary, need an approach of what to receive and what to tune out, as well as a mind state to find signals and strength while exposed to the noise.
This is not a new problem. Back in 1833, Goethe wrote about the tyranny of constant news: “A culture of constant news eviscerates the past and the future, leaving you no time to metabolize lessons or sketch out a plan, always pulling you into the whirlpool of Something Important Happening Somewhere.”
The modern view is a divided house on the approach to dealing with noise.
Daniel Kahneman, the respected scientist and Nobel Prize winner, was of the view to tune out noise via “decision hygiene” and noise audits, by delaying premature intuition, structuring processes, and using independent information.
In contrast, Adam Grant suggested that strategic rethinking needs fine graining to tune out echo chambers but allow other noise for friction. This is also echoed by Terence Tao, the leading mathematician. Tao spent a year at the Institute for Advanced Study with no teaching, no random events of committees, and just unlimited time to think. But after a few months, he ran out of ideas. Tao thinks one needs a certain level of randomness and inefficiency to come up with new ideas.
This creates a tension we cannot avoid: too much noise overwhelms judgment, but too little leaves us with no new insight. The challenge is not elimination, but calibration.
While modern science attempts to manage this data, ancient philosophy offers a more common approach focused on managing the mind’s reaction to the data.
This involves a life of action regardless of the noise and results environment. The Stoic dichotomy of control teaches us to separate what is in our hands from what is outside of them, finding equanimity in chaos. Similarly, the Bhagavad Gita introduces nishkama karma and samatvam: taking action without attachment to the fruits or results, maintaining equanimity. Buddhist philosophy echoes this with upekkha, maintaining a balanced mind amid pleasure and pain. These practices detach us from outcome-noise in times of uncertainty.
This ancient wisdom is a much needed guide for us today, but the skill comes from practice and that becomes very subjective and also hard to follow. It is a pursuit for the self, and yet there could be some learning from sharing.
This led me to reflect on how I have been dealing with noise through my own work and writing.
My interest, research, writing, and advisory are about seeing what is happening, interpreting, and reasoning to distill a way for a better tomorrow at work and life, and for society and civilisation. It requires dealing with noise every day, which was engaging, exciting, and meaningful work for over 21 months. However, when I started on this 70th edition, momentarily and unlike in the past, I felt the need to deviate from the plan and explore this subject for me to draw strength personally, and also share if this can help.
No matter how good or bad or intense, I do not block out noise as I need to receive it as source input and synthesise and find signals to act on. I am inspired by a noted philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti’s observation: “The ability to observe without evaluating is the highest form of intelligence.”
Life and times today are overwhelming and there is an immense need to recharge. This is something I wrote about in Mindvista Edition 62 about my experience to find renewal from the world of art and practice of learning. The humility of not knowing is its own kind of anchor.
We live in extremes in an Age of Success and an Age of Despair simultaneously. Philanthropy is not an adequate bridge and the act of give and get extend to everyone , every day. The Give and Get Economy and the Personal Gratitude Product is something I explored in Mindvista Edition 48. It means generating unsolicited acts of kindness, help, and empathy without expecting a return. Gratitude can go viral and help find strength amidst the noise.
Write, share, and listen as I think there are surprisingly common challenges we face and by writing (it could be as notes to self or for a public share or both) we metabolize lessons even if we don’t share. Of course sharing can help in ways we don’t know or measure and even as an author, I can say it has added purpose and strength to one’s self.
It is hard, but we need to be optimists and keep the faith that the future is better and act in purposeful ways. This is not new and it is what that got us here in life. It is part of how we live meaningfully and make the world a better place for what matters. Being human for a better tomorrow is what I believe in, write about, and try to live.
In this exploration, I was also curious to see how Mindvista writing deals with noise and signal. So, I ran a retrospective analysis using Perplexity on all 69 past editions to cull out what could be predictions and how they stacked up against bets and results in prediction markets over the last two years. The conclusion was clarifying and motivating. Mindvista did not make predictions, but the writing does find the signal and builds a coherent narrative of reasoning and action around them.
Most of us cannot cut out all noise and yet we cannot drown and need to find the signal and strength for a better tomorrow for all that we value and are responsible for.
1. How do you find the balance to take in the noise, yet find the direction and strength to move forward?
2. How do you blend reality, agency, and purpose?
3. How do we as humans become better so that we can expect and manage AI to be better?
4. How do we build optimism in the circles where we live, work, and engage?
Love to hear your reactions and comments.
What can be heaven on earth, see the sidebar of an ode sung 50 years ago in the UN and still an inspiration and hope for the polity of nations and civilisation that we are, and end with a prayer: ‘May all people of the world be happy and prosperous.’
Cheers and best wishes.
