Is more information always better?

Knowledge Snacks Marie Roelofs

PhD candidate at the Department of Accountancy, Sietse Oostra, gave a mini-lecture on transparency and information dissemination during the ‘Tafel van Martinus’. Is more information always better?

Sietse Oostra begins his mini-lecture with a dilemma: "If I tell you that there is a 50% chance that the water in this glass is clean drinking water, but there is also a 50% chance that the water could be contaminated, would you drink this water?" He then shows a table containing various information about the water. Oostra clarifies that according to this table, there are no health risks if you were to drink the water. Later, it is revealed that this table contains incorrect information and that important information is missing.

With this example, Oostra demonstrates that with certain information, we can make better decisions, but this can also have a counterproductive effect. Does spreading more information lead to better outcomes? This is not only the case for drinking water but also for information on food products or making financial decisions.

"More information can improve our lives," says Oostra, "But we must be careful. More information doesn't always make us happier, it can be misused or misinterpreted. Sometimes less is more."