The Random Know-It-All

Well, I went to a "friend's" earlier today and for some reason (I'll get to that in a second), he and his sister seemed to have a good 'ol time by claiming that I'm The Random Know-It-All. How do I mean? How did they mean? I'm not sure exactly. But, let me go to the dictionary for some help.

Random means "having no pattern or objective." Okay, I think I have a firm enough grasp of that concept.

So, what did they mean? Well, when talking about it (me), they brought up sports and movie knowledge, mainly movie knowledge, because I beat my friend in this DVD game called "Scene It: Movie Edition" pretty badly every time we play. So maybe, just maybe, he has felt the need to gab about it to friends and family of his to, I don't know, make himself feel better that he doesn't know this "random" information.

They didn't let up about this. One joke or even two and I wouldn't gone along with it. But they wouldn't drop it. It's not like I was over there playing them in the "Scene It" game. I voluntarily came over to help my friend's sister with a Fantasy Football Draft.

When I finally got irritated enough to say something, I blurted out the fact that I've scored very high on intelligence tests (most notably, the IQ test). When I mentioned my score, which exceeds the so-called "genius"-level, my friend just said something along the lines of, "Well, good for you." But, then again, all the questions on the test were very "random," so they were directly in accord to my "lack of pattern or objective."

According to the dictionary, "random" would simply mean that in this blog I'd wander from this subject to the Holocaust to waterslides without any hesitation. "Random" would mean, at a party, when all is quiet, I'd just blurt out that San Diego is beautiful. So, what exactly is "random" knowledge? They also used the word "useless," so, "random" and "useless."

With their thought, it can be said that all knowledge is "random" and "useless," because no one can see what all will occur in their life on a daily basis, so how are we to know what knowledge we'll "need" to know and what knowledge we won't? Trivia buffs who play "Jeopardy," is that knowledge "random" and "useless?" To most people, probably, but to those winning money off the game show, the answer to that question is no.

Is movie knowledge "random" and "useless" to most? Again, the answer to that question is yes. But, what about for directors? Screenwriters? Producers? Critics? They make a living based on their cognizance of movies. Same with sports. How would managers, coaches, announcers (some of them), general managers, and owners be successful and make money if they knew nothing about sports? While it may be "useless" knowledge to most, it is most definitely not "useless" to some.

The terms "random" and "useless" when referring to one's knowledge is "random" in itself, because it lacks an objective truth. It's purely subjective. Just as knowledge about cars may be completely "useless" to some missionaries, the knowledge of law may seemingly be "useless" material for the president, and the knowledge of housekeeping may be "useless" to some who pay someone to do the work for them, sports and movie knowledge may be termed "useless" for those who don't earn a living off it.

If that's the case, then we might as well just live and die with work and not enjoy anything else. What else is there to enjoy? It's all "random" and "useless" anyway. What will it matter that I know a bit about San Diego now that I've been there? It's "useless" material that won't get me anywhere in life. It was a waste of money evidently.

While one may see no purpose in learning about a particular subject, there is no such thing as completely "random" and "useless" information, because someone out there is earning a living by knowing a little bit about this "useless" topic. It's better to learn and be willing to open one's mind to multitudes of information than to close the doors upstairs so tightly that no new information is allowed in and ignorance reigns supreme. Am I a Random Know-It-All? "Random" only to some, as are we all.