Keeping Up

A friend asked me the other day how she can keep up with stuff without spending too much time, noting that she prefers books to newspapers. I also prefer books to newspapers. As a general rule, the more time someone put thought into something, the better.

I told her to read weekly magazines, but then changed my mind and told her she should just ask her friends. She should assemble a metaphorical dream team of experts in different topics, striving to hear both sides of an issue.

We can't know everything. When it comes to straight information--whether it's the Chinese trade policy or what EBITDA means--friends can easily summarize it for you, saving plenty of time. It's sort of like international trade: people have a comparative advantage in certain subjects, and when they trade voluntarily, everyone wins.

I don't have a problem not knowing things right away. I wasn't following Egypt at all as it happened. Two weeks later I read a 6 page briefing in The Economist and I probably know just as much as those who spent much more time following it.

This has led me to come up with a hypothesis: Since my brain is still developing (it is right? IT IS RIGHT?), it may make sense to learn things now that I can't learn when I'm older. The implications: I should learn languages, solve math problems (as much as I don't want to!), and read incredibly hard books as a form of mental exercise. It's not super important that I know China's trade policies or what EBITDA means right now. I can easily learn straight information in later years. The skills mentioned above, not so much.

This implies that it may make more sense to focus on developing the brain than receiving information. I often resolve to improve my subpar knowledge of history. But rigorous study of that can wait. I'll pick up spanish and hebrew first.

Bottom Line: The more time someone put into something, the better. Learn now what you can't in the future.