Bits and Pieces

Meditations on Montaigne

48) Les Destriers

There was a time when people were aware of warhorses. They knew the name and type of steed for the great warriors in history. The equivalent today might be knowing military weaponry well, so you can tell the difference between an F-14 Tomcat and the F/A-18 Hornet.

Such arcane knowledge is the province of young men who dwell in detail. Nearly every video game requires players to know the difference between types of weapons, the damage they inflict and how they can be obtained. We train young brains now to have flash knowledge of arcania, which they can then apply to financial tools or whatever else greases the global click and twitch economy most efficiently.

Perhaps we should educate all children to let go of details and learn nothing that they can easily acquire quickly online. Do not train your brain how to grasp and hold bite sized facts, but rather to enter into extended reveries of thought and connection. Make them build their own mazes to escape from, not memorize tools to blow up blips.