It turns out astronomy is one of my knowledge gaps. Somehow in all the years of school and reading and working in the aerospace industry and being married to someone who works in the aerospace industry I somehow have absolutely no knowledge of stars. I know some basic facts about planets but on stars - there's nothing.
I have some others - I discovered recently that I know almost nothing about French aristocracy other than Louis XVI and my grip on Asian history is incredibly weak. How does this happen? And more importantly how do you fix it? Or should you fix it? Do I really need to know the political struggles of China and Japan in the 1600s? Should I make myself research astronomy when it's clearly a subject that doesn't particularly interest me?
What do you think? What are your knowledge gaps?
Interesting post. I often feel like I know less about classics than a lot of bloggers, since I don't read a ton of them. And while I love the general concepts of astronomy- I think it's fascinating- I am not a math/ physics person so once it gets complicated, I'm out. A nice general documentary is nice though. :)
ReplyDeleteI'll have to think about this now- knowledge gaps. Golly there's so many...
Oh yeah, I definitely have lots of knowledge gaps. I'm like you in that I think I know a little bit about many things, but even still there are certain subjects I knew absolutely nothing about. I'm with you on astronomy. Also sports. Oh and biology. A lot of science I no nothing about. But it honestly doesn't bother me. I mean, if I wanted to know about that, I would certainly go research it, but I don't. :)
ReplyDeleteI find so many things fascinating that I often wish I knew everything, but I suppose that isn't really possible. I have quite a few knowledge gaps, not to mention my memory isn't what it used to be. I used to know a lot about astronomy and the stars, but because of lack of use of that knowledge for so long, I've forgotten a lot it. I felt that acutely while we were camping this past month, when we were out looking at the stars.
ReplyDeleteI try not to let it bother me too much. If I read something that I want to know more about, it inspires the researcher in me. And enjoy researching. To a degree, anyway. :-) There are subjects I'm not at all interested in, and that's okay too.
Great topic, Katherine!
There is so, so much to know, and no way to encompass it all. I wish I could; I'm insatiably curious and I love learning about new subjects, at least from a lay perspective. (For example, the concepts and basic facts of cosmology, astronomy, and astrophysics are fascinating, but I'm not up to delving deep into the mathematics of string theory. Or even orbital mechanics.)
ReplyDeleteSo... knowledge gaps. Often I don't know I have one until I encounter it. But I know I'm weak on African history and culture (though I know a little bit about European colonialism in Africa.) I'm hit-or-miss on Asian cultures and history, though my work as an indexer has given me some knowledge of India's sacred medieval architecture, China's famine during the Cultural Revolution, Japanese aggression before and during World War II, and so on. I'm surprisingly weak on American literature, at least regarding the classics—I mean, I know the titles and authors, but haven't read as many as you might expect. I love music, have sung and studied voice much of my life, and even direct choruses, but my knowledge of music theory is spotty at best.
Should you fix it? You can't. There's no way to know everything in depth, or even a little bit about everything. It's good to know the basic, widely-known facts (she says, thinking of the Sherlock episode "The Great Game," in which it's revealed that Sherlock doesn't know the basics of the solar system - as in, the earth goes around the sun.) But beyond that, concentrate on the areas that do interest you, and don't worry about the others. :-)
My knowledge on stars would be I know how to find Orion in the sky. :) It was never something of interest so I guess I just never looked into it so I would have sucked with that too. :) I am sure there are more gaps in my knowledge but if it don't interest me it doesn't get learned.
ReplyDeleteI have a huge knowledge gap for African and Eastern European Geography because the countries change names and borders so often. I don't think we need to feel guilty about having knowledge gaps about things that don't really impact our lives. I do feel a twinge of guilt not knowing more Art History than I do, like specific dates of stylistic periods, and biographical info on the artists, but it has no importance to my life or well-being, so I am not ashamed. Ha ha.
ReplyDeleteAnother great topic. I find I do really well with topics I really like, but for something that doesn't interest me at all, it goes totally out of my head. Like you, I'm a fan of jeopardy, and sometimes enjoy the challenge. Hugs...
ReplyDeleteMy knowledge gaps are plentiful. I like to watch documentaries on stuff and I think reading helps but I don't usually actively seek out to fill most of them unless I have a specific interest. Great post!
ReplyDeleteHmmm, this is an interesting discussion. I think about this kind of stuff too. If you know too much maybe you become a jack of all trades and master of none. I think knowing what you know in detail is better than having general knowledge without going into depth in any one thing. If that makes any sense at all. Great topic!
ReplyDeleteYes... chemistry. I know next to nothing about the periodic table and how the elements work as a base for everything. And I really like this post, Katherine. I am also very ignorant about modern Geography... Will I try to fill these gaps? At some stage I will. When I get the time!
ReplyDeleteI have a lot of knowledge gaps. I usually find out about an entire topic that I am know nothing about anytime I sign up for trivia night. I should probably try to learn some more but I never do.
ReplyDeleteI know I have a lot of knowledge gaps and, I suppose, I should work to fill some of them. But there is only so much time in the day and only so much room in my brain. I now only concern myself about it if it's something I feel I really need to know more about.
ReplyDelete