5. Relevance

In order for information to be useful it must be relevant to you.

School

You have a great deal of information to learn for your exams. Each time you go to lessons you probably take a lot of notes and perhaps are given handouts by your teachers to read.

But what if your teachers decided to spend a few weeks teaching only things they were interested in, such as sports or their hobby? (they never would of course!)

The lessons might be fascinating - but not relevant as to why you are there in the first place.

Weather forecasts

Whilst it might be interesting to find out what the weather is like in Florida or Melbourne today, it isn't really relevant to your everyday life. It won't help you decide whether you need to take an umbrella with you before you leave home in the UK.

Doctor's appointments

You might be feeling unwell and want to make an appointment to see your doctor. You phone up the local surgery to find out when the doctor has a spare appointment time.

It wouldn't be very useful or relevant to you if the receptionist told you how many appointment times were available to see the nurse.

House prices

Perhaps your parents might be thinking of moving house.

The first thing they would do would be to speak to an estate agent to find out how much their house was worth.

It wouldn't be useful or relevant if the estate agent were to tell them how a similar house in a different part of the country might be worth.