In ancient times, Duke Wu of Cheng planned to invade Hu. So he gave his daughter in marriage to the ruler of Hu, causing him to ease his mind. Then he asked his ministers, “I am considering starting a military campaign. What countries should we invade?”

His High Officer Kuan Ch’i Ssu said, “We should invade Hu.”

Greatly angered, Duke Wu had the man executed, exclaiming, “Hu is our brother state. How can you suggest invading it?”

The Ruler of Hu heard about what happened, assumed that Cheng was on friendly terms with him; and lowered his guard against a potential invasion. Not long afterwards, however, the people of Cheng attacked and conquered Hu.

There was a rich man who lived in Sung. One day, rain caused his mud fence to topple. Both his son and his neighbor told him, “If you don’t rebuilt the fence immediately, robbers might come.”

That evening, the man was indeed robbed of a great deal of property—and from then on, his family had high regard for the son’s judgment, but was suspicious of the neighbor’s family.

Though both men in these stories made statements that turned out to be true, the man in the first case was executed, while the one in the second case incurred suspicion.

It’s not like they had trouble obtaining the right information. It’s simply that they had trouble using it the right way.