I have many times wondered why people have so little knowledge about certain things. When I am around people who don't have interest in sports, I am astonished at what they don't know. When I am around people who pay no attention to politics, I am amazed at the basic stuff they don't know. But then I have an occasional moment of clarity and realize there are a lot of things that are vitally important to others that I know nothing about. Going on vacation helps remind me that we all live in a parallel universe. People in the South don't worry about snow removal. Those of us who live in the Midwest don't spend a lot of time worrying about hurricanes. And of course we all live our individual lives without thinking about the specific circumstances of the other 300,000,000 people in this country.

The incredible amount of knowledge and information we have in the year 2007 makes it that much easier not to look outside ourselves. You really can't know much of what there is to know. There are too many things to know about. So what do we choose to know about, and why?

Human nature being what it is, I suspect we attempt to know about stuff that doesn't depress us. Politics depresses us. Four-year long wars, high taxes, screeching pundits, and a lack of interesting ideas conspire to make politics the new dismal science. Being an optimist, I try to find the good in things. I think it is good if people live their lives without allowing politics to drain their zest for living. But the big issues do need to be a small part of all our lives. "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance."

"The Dave Thompson Show"
AM 1500 KSTP
dthompson@am1500.com

Posted by Dave Thompson
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