(Un)Cultured

I feel like the more I live, the more I feel like I don't know things... the more I feel like there is so much out there that I don't have time to catch up on, to read about, to think about, to learn, to do...

I think I am the only Christian who has not read or own a book by Wendell Berry...

I think I am the only person in England who does not like beer...

I think I am the only person who gets 2 newspapers in her email every day, but rarely actually does more than skim headlines...

I think I am the only person who wants more hobbies: surfing, scuba diving, electric bass, learning Spanish, bucking up on my French, and learning Japanese...

I feel like Paul... I don't do what I want to do, but I do what I don't want to do... I know the context of Paul's rant is more about being a slave to sin... I'm not sure what I am a slave to, I haven't had time to think about it...

I feel like I used to be a contender intelligence-wise... maybe there is just so much more information than there used to be, which I do believe is true... but I also feel lost in it, like information is so changeable and uncertain.

I feel like I am becoming more and more mediocre, but I don't even know if that's a bad thing... more and more I feel like being are desperate to be specialized and experts and have data and research... people examine the most minute bits of their lives so profusely, yet seem to gain nothing but skepticism and doubt from it. They feel informed, but are they really?

This grad class I'm doing has the option of a student profile for a paper project. I'm all for data... it helps us move forward, but I hate seeing teachers and other researchers reduce people to little tiny charts full of numbers. At the end of the day, yes I sort of care if the school's report card goes up, but I care a lot more if Eniola gets a B on her exam so she can get into the programme she's been dying to get into.

The question is how much data is just too frickin ridiculous amounts of data? When does it inhibit meaning rather than encourage it. When does it just make us feel inferior and not good enough instead of propelling us forward?