Knowledge is Power

After five years, I have finally completed the Encyclopedia Britannica Concise Edition (EBC) which I was reading a page a day before I went to sleep.  It might sound more imposing than it is because the EBC is actually a single volume and not a complete, multi-volume encyclopedia. A minor accomplishment but a lot of fun.

Be that as it may, the 2114 pages in the EBC were quite informative. A vacuous, and intellectually lazy, colleague of mine felt threatened I was reading the EBC and he wasn’t. Consequently, he tried to minimize the endeavor by insisting it wasn’t worth the effort unless I could remember everything I read. I asked him how much of his undergraduate or graduate education he could remember and then didn’t bother to press home the obvious point.

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Truth be told, I read for pleasure entertainment not memorization. The vast majority of entries I read I have already forgotten. Mind boggling facts about chemistry, famous figures in the history of dance, minor historical figures I took a minor and fleeting interest in, all forgotten.

But memory works in funny ways.  There are hundreds of entries that I can’t recall at will, but when the right trivia question is asked they will swim to the surface of my consciousness.

But here’s a showstopper that made it all worthwhile:

Did you know, the Inuit, Maori,and Zulu all have a natural affinity for ventriloquism?

Knowledge is power, baby!!!

copyright 2016 Magnus Incognito

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