Navigating Facts in the Corporate World

Contrary to popular belief, there are very few facts in life that are totally set in stone. There are many facts that we deem totally irrefutable—and yet, new research suggests that they too might be subject to change. How do we adapt, to all this rapid change around us, and especially in the corporate world? Enter Samuel Arbesman, and his Informational Index Funds. In our own field and specialty, there are ways to keep abreast of what's going on: which facts still ring true, and which do not. But while we're doing that, other fields (and the important information they possess) can sometimes fall by the wayside. Arbesman shares practical methods to gaining access to and sharing information, that will lead to an inevitable strengthening of our corporations. As our world grows and knowledge expands, it becomes increasingly important to be aware of how facts change, and why. With confidence and ease, Arbesman acts as a guide for his audience members: he teaches them how to spot a changing fact, which facts to ignore and when to dig a little deeper. “Even though knowledge changes, the astounding thing is that it changes in a regular manner; facts have a half-life and obey mathematical rules. Once we recognize this, we'll be ready to live [and prosper] in the rapidly changing world around us.”

The Half-Life of Facts

Facts change all the time. The age at which women should get a mammogram has increased. Smoking has gone from doctor recommended to deadly while the healthiness of carbs and fat seems to be in constant flux. We used to think the Earth was the center of the universe, that Pluto was a planet, and that the brontosaurus was a real dinosaur. What we know about the world is constantly changing.

Samuel Arbesman is an expert in scientometrics, literally the science of science: how we know what we know. It turns out that knowledge in most fields evolves in systematic and predictable ways, and understanding that evolution can be enormously powerful. For instance, knowing how different branches of medicine overturn their bodies of knowledge can improve the way we train (and retrain) physicians. Based on his book, The Half-life of Facts, Arbesman offers fascinating examples from fields as diverse as technology and literature, and helps us find new ways to measure the world while accepting the limits of how much we can know with certainty. “If we can understand the underlying order and patterns to how facts change, we can better handle all of the uncertainty that's around us.”