[zouhair]

Well that's short sighted. It's because of this flawed logic that a lot of Americans think they have the best education/healthcare in the World.

Just now that they started to look at what is happening elsewhere that they are starting to understand what they are lacking.

Here is the thing, and it works for everything in life: Knowing a thing is almost always better than not knowing it, even if it is not clear what use to make of it.

This said knowing what is happening near you is also very important.

[edejong]

No, the statement 'knowing a thing is almost always better than not knowing it', is balderdash.

An individuals knowledge is like a garden. It needs to be kept in order and it takes time to maintain. There is simply too much information being produced and a limited bandwidth to ingest this information. To select the right information is of the essence. Form a strategy of knowledge gathering. For example, one can decide to pick a topic that is not well known, in order to be a valuable amateur expert on that topic. But, just ingesting information without any rhyme or reason is a recipe for disaster.

[Red_Leaves_Flyy]

So, because you found one, rather extreme case, where blindly consuming disparate pieces of information is maybe harmful you're arguing the entire premise is flawed?

The statement is not "at the sacrifice of all else, memorize everything possible."

If you take any advice to a logical extreme it will likely become bad advice. Maybe you should try to consider things from different angles before you capriciously write them off.

[edejong]

Personally I am of the opinion that one should always consider the knowledge one gathers similarly to the food one eats and the friends one keeps. One burger doesn’t make you fat, nor does one bad friend make you criminal. But we’d better make conscious decisions lest we’ll be a 200kg drug dealing gang member who believes the earth is flat.

[Red_Leaves_Flyy]

Seems like you're agreeing with me in a very abrasive way.

[edejong]

No, I am not in agreement. We should always be careful with the information we gather and keep a focus. That’s different from: more information is always better.

I am not a native speaker. Where did you thought I was abrasive?

[mistermann]

> Here is the thing, and it works for everything in life: Knowing a thing is almost always better than not knowing it, even if it is not clear what use to make of it.

Isn't that the problem though, knowing what is true? It is an incredibly hard thing to do, even when everyone is acting in good faith and trying their hardest, which certainly isn't the state of affairs today. I'd say much less than 10% of people would get a passing grade on both of those requirements, and I'm not even sure I'd give myself a passing grade.

"It Ain’t What You Don’t Know That Gets You Into Trouble. It’s What You Know for Sure That Just Ain’t So."

And you provided a perfect example: Americans think they have the best education/healthcare in the World.

[jankotek]

Eating junk food is not healthy...

[pjc50]

Did you read that in the news?

[pixl97]

No, I read that in a publication of a medical journal.

[zouhair]

Dying because you cannot afford insulin when you are diabetic is also a thing.

[touchpadder]

Accusing a solid argument of being flawed and replacing it with a bulk of nonsense lol