Cramming your brain

If it feels like you never know enough...
Think about this.

You now know more than most people who ever lived.

In truth, think about it...most people in modern civilization (or at least on this site...)
have learned about so MANY different topics.

Concepts, methods, verbage...from a tons of fields not available to the masses even a few decades ago.

And I'm not talking about being a Subject Matter Expert, but just base knowledge in order to have a conversation or absorb media about it.

The average person, educated or uneducated, now has these ideas up in their head.
The Basics of medicine, economics, politics, math, science, weather and more...

How many people knew how to drive a car?
Surf the internet
Use all the equipment that you use daily
Go all the places you go (a century ago, people didn't go far from home mostly...)
Use all the techniques you do.

Ok, techniques...for people who's been out in the working place for some time
How many different apps do you know? How many have you learned that aren't used anymore...they're still up there in your head. (fuzzy, but there)
How many different projects?
How many different clients?
Environments, methods, principles and more...
And god forbid if you actually changed jobs or careers.

Do you repair your own house?
Even, do you clean your own house?
How many different products do you know? What they can do? What is their quality?

Think about how many different conversations/articles you've heard/seen through the month.
The basic concepts you already knew or that were introduced to you.

Wikipedia, TV, Radio...you're constantly absorbing all this.

And forget about it if you are actually an experience Subject Matter Expert.
You've already "forgotten" about more things of that specialty than most have just learned.
But it's still up there...in your head.

Isn't it amazing?
Think about how much you actually know.
Especially in comparison to those who lived some decades ago...in relative terms.

Try making a list...note down everything you've ever been trained on, taken a class on, events you've experienced or even topics that you enjoy reading about.
I think you'll be surprised...let us know about them.

What do you think about it?
Brain numb yet? Or you ready for more...because it's coming at ya.

 

As Craven Morehead mentions, the knowledge of people doesn't simply increase in a linear fashion. I'll add that knowledge is merely one aspect of the human brain.

Without going all scientific on you, neuroplasticity explains how our brain changes due to environment, behaviour, etc. Our brains today are largely a result of our current technological epoch.

For better or for worse, this means we deal with a ton of information. On the worse side of things, most of the information is virtually useless. On the worst side of things, much of the information is garbage.

If you want to be humbled, realize that it was a common aspect of education systems in the Western world for students to be fluent in Latin. Today, we're lucky if students know how to use their native tongue.

Also realize that "popular" and "mainstream" novels published 200 years ago are considered "difficult" and "boring" today, mainly because they're written at a level of language and at a length making them virtually inaccessible to a lot of people.

So, no, our brains and their stimuli don't result in a linear or exponential growth in intelligence, knowledge, or wisdom per se. We are creating a great generation of information processors. However, I believe too few of us are capable of important critical thinking, decision making, and leadership.

The difference to realize, too, I suppose, is that more people today are educated than in the past. There were generally two classes: working and landowning. Today, the lower classes are more educated than they've ever been, and the middle class is nothing like the landowning class of bygone eras. The 1% are more characteristic of the landowning class of the past.

It's all very complex. So given that it's not linear or exponential, I would say it's more of a cloud or group of clusters.

 

I can do all of those things. My husband is a better seamstress than I am, but he can do all of those things too. We're also educated. I don't believe those areas of knowledge are no longer needed. I save a lot of money every year by growing a vegetable garden and canning its produce.

One interesting thing to consider in all of this is the Flynn Effect. It refers to a general increase in IQ scores over the course of the 20th century. There are many possibilities for why the Flynn effect exists (better schooling, better nutrition, test familiarity), and there is some evidence that it is abating.

 

Ok, don't make a list.
It doesn't matter to me...I just wanted something for you to consider or share. (actually it was fascinating when I did it for myself)

BTW...thank you, snowy...for the reference to the Flynn Effect. I actually didn't know that, good find.

And I find it interesting the cynics chiming in...
No, we don't know how to make homemade soap anymore. Even back then many didn't.
But making soap isn't hard...it was the time & effort to make it that was the bitch.
And that's what many people did back then...it wasn't that they knew more or were less intelligent...they were occupied by doing.

And how are we to determine worth? What's useful?
Garbage? One person's garbage is another's jewel. I find the memory of the 3 stooges and the Flintstones cool.
Or the books of D&D I remember.
Something "of use" I memorized & learned was Master C, a programming language because of a project back when I was 28, circa 1995
Not compatible with anything, now obsolete...it's still stuck in my head...a dungeon waste of old code.

Latin was used back then because it was one of learning/teaching a language that went across the ages and nations.
Now, it's unnecessary, with modern media. Unless you are in Science, Law or Medicine. Ancient Greek too.
Both I know also...but not useful on a daily basis...but it's good to refer to when necessary. Is this Junk or Elitism or Pragmatic? Who knows.

There's a book out there, called The Rational Optimist.
It's premise that as things have advanced, this has allowed us to advance ourselves and excel. Civilization & survival too.
One thing has promoted another.
Now you might disagree with some of the details, I do agree with his overall theme.

We now have more spare time and access to more knowledge than ever before.
This is an advantage & luxury that we are not typically aware of.

But my original point was, it makes me think in wonder by what I do know.
People are always concerned about what they do not know. They are judged on it.
But I was curious...what is everything I do know? Why worry?
What is everything other people know?
How much can I actually absorb over a lifetime?

Sometimes I feel like Data from Star Trek, wanting to know everything.
Other times, I'm worn down...I don't want to think about anything.
But what's neat, is not that I remember the details...that's can get crazy...but I remember the concepts, the ideas.
I can talk about it generally or read about it.

Think about what you know.
Isn't it kind of cool?

 

:raises hand: Call me a freak if you want, but I was raised doing these things. They are second nature. And, no, I wasn't raised in isolation living in the middle of nowhere on a farm, my parents were big on self-sufficiency and we did a lot with our family's 1/2 acre in suburban Los Angeles. I don't raise all of my food, but I do a bit of gardening with the little land I have to play with, and I have sufficient horticultural training where I am confident I could indeed raise all of my own food (I'm a vegetarian, but I also can keep chickens, raise rabbits, and goats), if necessary. I make my own salsas and jams, and I enjoy canning cheap bulk produce to save for later. Though I don't make all of my clothes, I have made some outfits, and know I could make everything I need in a pinch. I regularly make bags and purses for friends, too - even customized laptop bags.

I know a lot of useless crap, too. What PhD student doesn't?

 

Yes, but HOW MANY sandwiches do you know how to make?? And how good are they.

Actually, I always thought that Arthur Dent would make a great first psychologist, in the Bob Newhart variety.
Watching the absurd.
And being kind of apathetic about it.
But still mucking his way through and sincerely trying to help, although he doesn't.