We will now interrupt the regularly scheduled program for this good old Blakes micro podcast. Not all information is created equal. So I'll explain it like this. There's information, which if you look up the dictionary term for that, it's fact-based information. Alright. There's misinformation, which usually comes from not knowing or ignorance, or uh there not being a really good understanding of what it is that's being talked about. And then there's disinformation, which is uh typically deceptive or um information that is specifically tailored towards uh confusing or misleading people. Alright. And it doesn't matter whether we talk about knives or life in general, there are generally these three types of information out there. Now it used to be if you wanted to write a book or you wanted to be published somehow, that you typically would go through a process of peer review, which sometimes just had to do with the public at large ridiculing you if you didn't get information correct. But in the age of the internet, you can put whatever you want on there, and depending on the uh source of information, so if you're Wikipedia or you know just indexed on a website or you know, whatever, uh YouTube, uh you don't necessarily have to be uh cited, you don't have to uh prov like provide any proof that what you're talking about is true and factual, and because of that, there's a an inherent laziness with information uh that goes around. Now, I am the subject of this. Uh there are probably things within uh this these podcast episodes and everything that I perpetuate myths or misinformation in some way. It has a lot to do with ignorance. That's why I get a lot of people on here to talk about things that I don't maybe understand very well. Um, I do a lot of research, I try to fact-check, but you know, it it only goes so far. But what you'll encounter in the world at large is all sorts of people that either don't know or uh specifically want to uh misdirect you so that way you won't know. And uh the the onus is on you to make sure that you are collecting information and fact-checking it in some way. Um in knives, uh, you know, everybody has an opinion. Uh it could be what sells, what doesn't sell, what the market's doing, um, how to heat treat things, how to finish things out. And by and large, we trust that another knife maker, when they're sharing information, uh, they're going through some process or trial and error to figure it out themselves. And that is true a lot of the time. However, I am distrustful first of most information, and I have to make sure that that is correct information, especially when it comes to certain aspects of knife making, um, you know, uh heat treating, like the episode that I just had with Laren Thomas, there was uh a lot of things that just reading his books and getting to talk to him um clarified for me where uh I might have been perpetuating information that was just not you know factual. And that those things helped me a lot. Like there are smart people in the room, and sometimes you got to you know you have to feign at least that you know nothing in order to be able to glean the information that helps you to learn uh things definitively. Now uh I I believe that the knife community in general just wants to help. Um, if you ask somebody for information, if you ask somebody for uh tips and tricks, if you observe uh how they make things, uh you can glean a lot of information, you can gain a lot of information, and uh you know, other than you practicing that and and sussing out whether it works for you or not, um you know that that's basically up to you, right? But there have been times in knife history, in art in general, anything that's you know, self-expression, anything where people uh uh covet their own time and energy and everything, uh, that makers will give you misinformation or lead you down a bad path just to stunt your growth. And uh I that it's one of those things. Like uh people sometimes don't want to see you succeed, sometimes they want to see you struggle um because they struggled. And the the makers that are withholding about information or uh give you brief responses on things or whatever, in general, they don't want to help you. Um information is free in a lot of ways, and for everything else, uh like you know, things that are just kind of trade secrets, or you spend a lot of time in RD, you know, people uh you have to remember that you're not entitled to certain types of information from makers, uh, you know, where they source certain parts, um, how they do certain things. Um, if they spend a long time curating that knowledge or uh spending a lot of money on their own research or you know, paid for classes or things like that that help them to uh lower the learning curve, well, it's up to them whether they share it or not. So don't get uh too upset if they're they're not really willing to. But if it's something like general knowledge, just go to another knife maker and usually they'll be willing to help you. Like seek out uh people that you know do good work, um, that you know um have mastered a certain type of technique and ask them. And there's usually more than one. Like, I I don't really think in knives anymore there is one person that holds the keys to the entire kingdom. When you're doing research uh on Google, YouTube, anywhere, um you the idea at least should be that you're quoting um several different sources if you can find it to be able to tell whether something's fact or not. It's the same idea as as you know, reading news articles. Um you want to look at a few different sources, left, right, center, um, somebody who doesn't really care at all, you know, uh established uh media that has some level of journalistic integrity, although that's very hard to find now. And you kind of uh form an opinion uh based on all of this evidence. And that's the way that we should be with information, especially in knife making, because not everything works. Uh some things cost a lot of time and money and and take you down the bad path, whether it's intentional or not, um, that's that's kind of up to you to decide um somewhat. But I I want you to be very cautious all the time with how you absorb information, because there are times when learning something can actually uh hurt you because you're learning something that establishes bad behaviors, like there's certain grinding techniques that I've seen out there, or heat treating techniques, or um, you know, finishing with non-ferrous metals, like you know, precious metals and things to um inlay in in your work. There's all sorts of things. Uh that's uh they they're just either wrong, like they're dead wrong, or maybe they're slightly wrong, or the process um it's not really well understood, so they don't worry about it, they just say blah, blah, whatever. And again, I like I'm subject to that as well. I'm I'm always learning. Uh, I can't just go back and revise everything I say uh whenever I find out new information. So uh just remember that we're all fallible in some way. You have to understand that it is kind of the intention behind it. Like, I don't want to be wrong because uh I I don't want to mislead people, but if I am wrong, just remember that it's not uh I I try my hardest. Um I I know there's a lot of people out there that have really good intentions, but it might be in wrong information that they have that's just wholly wrong. Um, but really stick to those people that have that are subject matter experts. They they really spend the time and energy to understand something uh at its at its fundamental level, and and when they share that, really uh really uh spend some time uh thinking about the value that that information has to you to be right or to have facts versus opinion or conjecture, um, and and then for somebody to share that out is a is a very beneficial thing for you. And in in this age where anything really could be fake news, um you just want to be uh really cautious with it. Um, you know, trust but be distrustful. Um, you know, they just trust but confirm is the is the idea here. I hope that helps and gives you some ideas on ways to uh look at information and and how to address people uh in l in positions of authority or authoritativeness, uh, so that way you can glean things, and it's always good to have multiple sources.