Negative information
Not finding what you were looking for is not always a failure.
One of the things our consultants risk when going out on a shopping expedition, or a quest for information online, or some other search is the possibility of not getting what they sought. Indeed, given our interests and activities and (yes, say it) our age it’s probable that we won’t find it. The lens our photographer was looking for wasn’t there. Although it was recently published, the book another sought wasn’t to be found in either local bookstore. In fact, our consultant with the big library goes to used-book shops with some things in mind and almost never comes back with what he sought. The place that we last got sealing-wax from no longer carries it. Other shops are no longer there at all.
Online searches are no better. One of us was looking for a volume on the English Civil War, more recently known as the War of the Three Kingdoms; results resolutely focused on the American Civil War. Questions about Ancient Greek clothing turned up businesses selling risqué party costumes.
Some things take more time and effort to come up negative. Our astronomer picked up a book on topology with a particular set of questions in mind; about halfway through, it appears the volume doesn’t cover the situations he’s interested in. This is halfway through a rigorous mathematical text, mind.
It’s only in fiction that a Quest always turns out successful. Well, maybe not even there. One can argue that none of the protagonists in the movie “The Wizard of Oz” actually wound up with what they thought they were pursuing (through several hours of Technicolor). There are no doubt other examples. Maybe what we actually find is better than what we seek. Our haunter of used-book shops would certainly say so.
Still, it is frustrating to go to great lengths only to find nothing there. It can be thoroughly discouraging to arrive home with a bag quite empty of treasures after a long, hot day in the concrete canyons. Or to cross off possibilities, one after the other, from a list of bright ideas. In these cases, our navigator has a suggestion.
Instead of considering an expedition to be a Quest, a journey through wastelands with a specific end in mind, treat it as a search for information. Your goal is to find what’s there, where it lies, how it works. In this case the fact that there are no LTM lenses in that particular store is just another piece of information, equally as important as the fact that there is a wide range of Pentax video cameras. Negative information is still information.
Unfortunately, this doesn’t help for routine shopping. When you want flour for tomorrow’s baking, the information that your supermarket has temporarily run out is not of much comfort.
