Okay perhaps not all the time. Not knowing what to do after you eat that furry piece of green meat could actually harm you. Or just give you a sick feeling. But sometimes not knowing is a blessing.

I recently had an issue that forced me to call an IT professional. I have worked with this company before and have always been extremely pleased with the results. This was no exception. However, I am a chatty person. I chat with everybody. The young man on the phone was no exception. I happened to mention that I am woefully inadequate when it comes to computers. I laughingly explained that I didn’t know the difference between a gigabyte and megabyte. He said, and I quote, “Oh, that’s easy.”   He went on to explain the difference between the gigabyte and a megabyte with great enthusiasm and great detail. My eyes glazed over.

He was being kind and I did appreciate the effort but it was lost on this Luddite. I don’t need to know everything. My life will not be adversely affected by my ignorance. Actually, I am extremely pleased at the fact that I do not know. I do not care what the difference is between a megabyte and a gigabyte or a troglodyte and stalagmite. My world is full of important bits of information. It is also bursting at the seams with snippets of random and useless data. WHY!!! Our brains are like sponges and they keep sucking things up whether we want them to or not.

When that game it came out called Trivia, people intentionally collected useless information. Some people were quite good at it. I played it once or twice and was amazed at how much I didn’t know. And then some things started to stick. Did you know that the sun is actually gaseous? Why do I know that? I don’t care! The information is stuck in my brain! I can’t get it out! Because I love to share a little misery, I’m going pass around a little useless trivia:

If you want to keep from crying while peeling onions, chew some gum.

Did you know that the liquid inside a coconut can be a substitute for blood plasma? (seriously, how did I know that? And who would figure it out?)

Caffeine is not the best pick me up in the morning, apples are.

Rubber bands last longer when you keep them in the refrigerator.

Did you know that peanuts are one of the components of dynamite?

Now this one actually makes sense, have you seen an ostrich? It’s eye is bigger than its brain!

How exactly is this information in my head a benefit? I can’t foresee myself going to too many cocktail parties where the discussion concerns components of dynamite or the tiny brain of an ostrich. Damn, those creatures are so ugly at birth that they’re cute!

As sentient entities (well most of us) our senses are always on alert. I don’t think we realize how much we know when we are simply absorbing it by osmosis. Sights and sounds are constantly bombarding us with information. We have no choice but to absorb it on some level.

Ahh, the innocence of our youth when we were ignorant of the world. Some days I wish I could go back there.