Too much knowledge

I like the Paul Simon song that says “I know what I know” and in life you have to hold on to what you know and discard the rest. I am not the smartest chap by any means but I constantly try to educate myself, the one thing I learnt at university was how to learn and I took that with me since then. In today’s world, knowledge is such a contentious issue, facts can be backed up by a random website and the discussion is endless. I remember meeting a professor at Oxford who blew my mind, the most intelligent person I have ever met but he reeked of urine, he was so deep in his thought that he had no time for urination. I admire such focus but basic hygiene is a great part of IQ, no matter how clever you are, there are certain basic signs of socialisation. So I wonder if there is such a thing as too much knowledge? Sometimes you meet people who stumble upon a way of thinking or a set of facts that set them from others. When I compare rural idyllic life to modern urban life, what we are looking at is different types of knowledge. One is intuitive, harmonious with nature, fatalistic and unquestioning, but the other is rational, self-determined, and questions everything. When I wonder to myself, how much all my knowledge benefits me, I am not that sure. When I sit in a village church and look around, all I see is unquestioning faith, they believe 110% without any room for doubt because it is all they know. They know nothing of Darwinian science, they would beat you if you called them related to a monkey, or if you told them a big bang started the universe. So the world is better geared to the ignorant, in life it is important to be ignorant of certain stuff. If is better to be ignorant of drugs, gambling, sexual vices, crime, and other undesirable activities. However, some might say it is better to know them so as to avoid them. Either way, the lines between knowledge and ignorance is blurred. The worst thing is knowledge without any applicable use, knowledge based on deep theoretical studies but there is always a use for knowledge no matter how trivial. Most of our early knowledge was derived from Doxologies which were long in-depth writings on matters of little importance. So who decides what is important? Going back to knowledge and life, I wish I didn’t know half the things in my brain but that information is what makes me what I am. In that sense, knowledge cannot be ranked as more intelligent; it is just pertinent at different times. I do think that too much knowledge is a very bad thing, to just know things that are not pertinent to you or helpful to you can make you stupid. I also believe that too much knowledge reduces your chances of happiness. The thick shall inherit the earth. ramaisibo@hotmail.com