I recently read an amazing and, well, informative book. It was called "The Know-It-All: One man's humble quest to become the smartest person in the world", by A.J. Jacobs (http://ajjacobs.com/books/kia.asp) I highly recommend this book, especially if you're as much of as a nerd as me that needs to know everything about anything. But even if you're not, Jacobs is hilarious in his insights and sometimes uncomfortably honest about how some of things he reads applies to himself or those closest to him.
You see, like Jacobs, I grew up thinking I was pretty smart. Although, he thought he was the smartest boy in the world. I wasn't quite there, but I took pride in my ability to obtain information. Lots of information.. mostly useless information. I never sat down and wanted to read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica in a year, but to each his own. This was the quest A.J. Jacobs set himself upon in order to become the smartest person in the world.
I first read a book of his called "The Year of Living Biblically" and really, really enjoyed it. Jacobs being an atheist (who was raised Jewish) he takes on the Bible's commandments as literally as possible. Even the stoning adulterers part. Oh yes, he did. In the midst of the book he mentions The Know It All as inspiration for the Year of Living Biblically. Not only did he love learning about Ecclesiastes, but it also trained him for a mass amount of reading in a short time. I became interested then in The Know It All. (but you should read The Year of Living Biblically, too).
There's tons of information I learned about that I never knew, or wanted to know. But being a seeker of knowledge, I soaked it up whether it interested me or not. Speaking of which, that was one of my favorite quotes from the book. He interviews the host of Jeopardy, Alex Trebek, and asks him about what knowledge means to him. His answer: "I love knowing everything, even things that don't interest me." Everyday it seemed I had about five facts I just had to share with someone (mostly Jill, God bless her) and I found myself, like the author, needing to put this random information into normal conversation. Let me tell you how that was met: with silence. And awkwardness. But I felt a little proud at the same time that I was retaining so much and it came to my mind so quickly.
It's been a week now without the Know It All. Jill I think is happy. I'm suffering a little. It's hard to stop cold turkey with this thing. My solution has been to go the 1911 edition of the Britannica, http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Main_Page , and just read random articles. Jacobs describes this edition as the most valued for the way it's written, and all that was going on while it was being written. It was right after the enlightenment, technology hadn't quite taken over the world, and overall people had a very black and white point of view. There was really one worldview that was accepted; a vast difference from our world today. While I realize all the flaws of the 1911 edition, I also value the insight it gives to the culture of it's time.
And that, I think, it was I gained most out of The Know It All. An appreciation for knowledge, or lack of it, and understanding what our culture views as important knowledge.
Give it a read.
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