Ahh... I think it's safe to say that a lot of the idiosyncrosies of modern society scare me. One thing that scares me a lot is our need for trivia to be wisdom. We often attribute knowing the name of an author or a figure in history to being fairly intelligent. Now, is it possible for one to know the ideas and morals of one who spawned these things without ever knowing the person or his name? I would think so. I would hope so, for my sake. Intelligence doesn't come from a name or even the memorization of a passage in a book; It comes in the interpretation. An interpretation doesn't come well without support (i.e. past experience, convictions). Through high school I was taught to memorize passages and names -- oh, god how I would have loved school more if they ever asked me what I thought of these people and their ideas. But, my tests consisted of names and dates.

This isn't to say that it's bad to know names or dates -- they are reference and an aid; but they are of little importance when compared to the ideas.

Of course... maybe i'm missing the vital importance of knowing these things. It's happened before. I'm far less than perfect.