The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World
Author:
Genre: Biographies & Memoirs
Book Type: Paperback
Author:
Genre: Biographies & Memoirs
Book Type: Paperback
Dave E. (smmedia) reviewed on + 29 more book reviews
one man's quest to read all the pages in the Encyclopedia Britantica.
"You can't spend your life comparing yourself to others."
page 70 "time and chance happen to... (us) ...all."
page 75 "if there is a rule, law, or an order somebody is going to find the loophole."
page 92 "...the inertia of bad ideas. Once they take hold it is a bitch to rout them out."
we read books and later in life we can not remember them.
page 159 "...names are imprecise, repetitive and arbitrary."
page 200 "the more you know about a topic, the more you will be able to remember."
page 202 "the world hinges on physical things. You can theorize all you want, make abstract arguments for days on end...(but the world is physical)."
page 220 "if i am just reading about life...maybe my time would be better spent out in the world, experiencing it."
Does reading the EB end to end make you a genius? no. there is a difference between knowledge and situational knowledge. knowing what to do given a problem or situation is more important than breath of knowledge or general knowledge.
some of the smartest people are very unhappy.
page 409 "(thomas) Paine refused to take profits on (common sense) so that cheap editions could be sold."
page 291 "the key is to take advantage of the free time your health problem creates, to use it as a chance to explore some unknown creative alleyway."
page 321 "you can ingest facts for seventeen hours a day, every day of your life, and you will still have gaps."
Even the editors of the EB do not know every article and fact contained within.
page 356 "...he doesn't know everything. No one does."
page 369 "you should aways say yes to adventures or you will lead a very dull life"
took the author slightly over one year to read all of the EB and write a book, it took me about three days to read this book. Worth reading.
"You can't spend your life comparing yourself to others."
page 70 "time and chance happen to... (us) ...all."
page 75 "if there is a rule, law, or an order somebody is going to find the loophole."
page 92 "...the inertia of bad ideas. Once they take hold it is a bitch to rout them out."
we read books and later in life we can not remember them.
page 159 "...names are imprecise, repetitive and arbitrary."
page 200 "the more you know about a topic, the more you will be able to remember."
page 202 "the world hinges on physical things. You can theorize all you want, make abstract arguments for days on end...(but the world is physical)."
page 220 "if i am just reading about life...maybe my time would be better spent out in the world, experiencing it."
Does reading the EB end to end make you a genius? no. there is a difference between knowledge and situational knowledge. knowing what to do given a problem or situation is more important than breath of knowledge or general knowledge.
some of the smartest people are very unhappy.
page 409 "(thomas) Paine refused to take profits on (common sense) so that cheap editions could be sold."
page 291 "the key is to take advantage of the free time your health problem creates, to use it as a chance to explore some unknown creative alleyway."
page 321 "you can ingest facts for seventeen hours a day, every day of your life, and you will still have gaps."
Even the editors of the EB do not know every article and fact contained within.
page 356 "...he doesn't know everything. No one does."
page 369 "you should aways say yes to adventures or you will lead a very dull life"
took the author slightly over one year to read all of the EB and write a book, it took me about three days to read this book. Worth reading.
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