For Harriet Swain, one of the most beneficial effects of a solid, comprehensive education is simply being well-informed.
That’s why she penned an article called The Art of Being Well-Informed for The Guardian‘s “How To Be A Student” series, which touches upon everything student-centric, from making decisions to finding your learning style.
Being well-informed, Swain explains, is basically the exact opposite of being a know-it-all. While a know-it-all—basically the archetype of the stuffy, pretentious college snob—has a narrow scope of knowledge and prioritizes lecturing other people over absorbing and interacting knowledge, a well-informed person soaks up information like a sponge.
In order to become well-informed (and to avoid becoming an arrogant university cliché) Swain gives the following advice:
So, one of the things to remember if you want to be well-informed is to be broad in your interests. Don’t spend every waking minute in libraries and lectures.
We know. This sounds oddly slacker-friendly for a student advice column.
Swain goes on, however, to explain that you should spend some time in lectures and libraries, but your eye should be open for the knowledge lurking everywhere: documentaries and museums, conversations with strangers and Twitter threads, late nights with friends and personal meetings with professors.
A well-informed person, then, is someone who is not only omnivorous when it comes to knowledge…but also always hungry for the next brain snack.
Well informed, equality-minded, and ambitious: the ad blocking user
Ad blocking users, as it turns out, prioritize being well-informed. 79.2% agreed with the statement “It is important to be well-informed about things.”
But being informed wasn’t the only other statement ad blocking user prioritized. Only slightly less important was the statement “I think we should all strive for equality”—75.9% agreed. More than 70% of ad blocking users also agreed with the statement “I like to challenge and push myself to be the best I can be in life.”
Other high priority items:
- 64% of ad blocking users agreed with the statement “I would consider myself to be a creative person.”
- 63.8% agreed with the statement “I try to buy natural/organic products.”
- 62.7% agreed with the statement “I like to pursue a life of challenge, novelty and change.”
The statements that ad blocking users feel best describe their priorities highlight some of ad blocking users most prominent character traits: social awareness, ecological-mindedness, a desire for self improvement, and a need to keep up with social and technological changes.
To say that the team at AAX is interested in ad blocking users is an understatement. We’re fascinated.
So we decided to consult the mass trove of data that GlobalWebIndex (GWI) keeps about internet behavior in order to tease out some of the particularities of the group. We took our findings and compiled “10 Things You Didn’t Know About Ad Blocking Users,” a study that peers into everything from their priorities (which is what you just read about) to preferences for digital content purchasing and love of motorsports.
The study will be published on January 16, 2020.
- Thought leadership
