Economists who have tried to resolve these paradoxes and dilemmas have succeeded only in developing new calculi to prescribe alternative choices, and eventually in developing rationalizations for every possible prescription. This reduces rational choice to a choice of rationalization. Psychologists who have studied weakness of human decision-making have also developed great respect for its strengths. We now know that it is at least as important for survival to create or recognize alternatives as it is to choose among them. Prescriptive models of decision-making do not prescribe how to create or recognize alternatives.
Humans do it anyway.
We do it by extracting knowledge, insight, and understanding from information in new and unpredictable ways. Therein lies a lesson for measuring the impact of information on development. Information has potential value as well as current value. But we cannot assess the potential of information by measuring information. We can only assess the potential by measuring the creativity of the people who use it.