“Learn everything, so that you can do anything”

I encountered this quote in a series I have recently watched on TV and it really resonated with me. Lately, I have had multiple conversations with clients, colleagues and friends regarding learning, knowledge and the differences between the Generations with regards to this subject.

I believe that each generation is unique and defined not only by years but also by historical events, geographic and beliefs as well as general knowledge. First, I would like to define what general knowledge is to me, my own personal perspective. My opinion is singular and mine only, I do acknowledge and understand clearly that there are a multitude of different ways to look at general knowledge. I believe that general knowledge is knowing a bit about everything that is global and also having an understanding that what we know and believe in isn’t the only perspective or way to look at situations.

As a young child and young adult born in the 80’s and raised in the 90’s in Europe, I am from that generation of analog knowledge research through paperback encyclopedias and library research. I have always found it interesting to look for words and subjects I heard about in conversations around me. I now realize that one opinion or one source of knowledge (in those days it was my parents) wasn’t enough for me. I questioned everything, every opinion and fact given to me until I was satisfied.

Looking for words in the dictionary and looking for information at the library led me a lot of times to read more than the exact thing I wanted to read about. I learned about the basics, the world, the universe, a bit about the neighboring countries and the bigger nations in the world to understand how much I didn’t know and how much I wanted to see and explore in the future. School also taught me different subjects and perspectives in more detail and that was always interesting to me.

Back to basic knowledge then. What are the things that you believe are essential for every person to know? I think that knowing that earth is round and the reasons we have seasons, day and night, earthquakes as well as Tsunamis and other natural phenomena is important and basic. I believe that minimum knowledge about wars other than WWI and WWII is important to have. In addition, I also think that basic knowledge about our body and mind and how it works is needed and would help throughout our lives. All of those “bits and pieces” of information are basic to me because they make understanding life and people a little bit easier.

Knowledge is a wonderful thing because it is something you encounter and are in close contact with every day. When you listen to a Podcast, listen to music, when you meet people, friends, coworkers, listen to the news other than the ones broadcasted in your country. Knowledge is everywhere to grab and remember or assimilate. Even if you never studied or looked for information, you have it nowadays at the tips of your hands.

The millennials and GenAlpha have the opportunities to have access to a multitude of databases and information platforms today. In contrast, they know less and have generally less knowledge than the “older” generations like GenX, Xenials, GenY and GenZ. Nowadays, you can learn something about everything and be able to be anything you want. Surprisingly, the latest generation seems to “not want/need” any of it.

I believe that knowledge is also being open minded to other opinions, other perspectives and other ways. I still think that “Learn everything, so that you can do anything” is a summary of my view on knowledge. I would be interested to know if I am an “odd duck” with this perspective or if others think the same, as well as what others see as basic knowledge and why?