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Monday, August 6, 2007

Ignorant and Lazy?

Okay, maybe this pegs me as someone who is ignorant and lazy, but I get tired of the information age sometimes. Don't get me wrong, I feel so blessed to live in such an age where information and knowledge can be found at the touch of a button. But, this said, it too can be extrememly overwhelming. At times I loose my desire to want to learn anything because I am too overwhelmed by all of it. And maybe it's not ignorance or lazyness, but perfectionism? I wander through bookstores and either want or feel the need to know what the contents of each book contains. The need to increase my vocabulary. The pull to search out sites on the internet and figure everything out. I feel that somebody knows it so why not I? Somebody knows how to replace a bathroom floor, how to invest during a bear market, the secret art of getting what you want when you want it, how to network computers, etc... If somebody knows these things, shouldn't I? I want to be a better person and knowing each of these things will make me a more knowledgable person (thus a better person). But lately I've been thinking about my need to know (and do) everything. And here is my 29 years of wisdom, 'there are more good things to do and read than one is capable of effectively learning in a lifetime. As long as a person has the desire and ability to pick and learn a handful of good things and learn them well, then that person has lived up to their potential in the learning realm. ' And I'm sure I'm not the first person to ever come to this conclusion. But life is a learning process and I'm learning to not be overwhelmed at having the need to learn it all. In actuality, it's liberating to realize and accept the fact that I can't learn and do everything.

2 comments:

Carl D. said...

Brady-
I have decided the same thing. there is too much crap out there to learn. The church teaches to learn from all good books, or something to that effect, but what is considered good books? I read the 7th harry potter book and would classify it as good. I think that another tactic of satan is the information age. He throws all of this stuff at us, so that we lose focus on the important things in life. I don't know if you will read this, so I will send you an email here now. It is late and I have been doing my new employee orientation for US Bank and listening to the baby cry. she cried for almost an hour, I guess that we are going to start making her sleep through the night. later. carl.

Brady said...

I think it's interesting that satan uses good things to keep us from doing the ultimate good things. We almost need to prioritize the good things that we do, like blogging for example. It isn't bad to blog, but if it keeps me from doing other things such as reading my scriptures or spending time with my family, then it has become not such a good thing. Maybe it goes back to the scripture for every season there is a time for doing...a time to read scriptures, a time to blog, a time for family, a time to read the Scogg...