“I don’t need to know 
everything. 
I just need to know 
where to find it 
when I need it.”
~ Albert Einstein

Some people think I’m highly intelligent. I don’t happen to be one of them. I know a few individuals who are, without a doubt, gifted with superior intelligence. I am often in awe of the magnitude of information stored in their brains. I also know some people who believe they’re highly intelligent. They, too, have information stored in their brain, but the significance of that information tends to be inconsequential.

In the early 1980s, in a fascinating course in Education Law at the University of San Francisco, professor Patrick Duffy shared a reassuring insight which I have never forgotten. He told us that we were not expected to know everything about the laws pertaining to education. We did, however, need to know how and where to access that information when we needed it.   

I have a wealth of knowledge and experience in a number of areas. I would even agree that, to some degree, I’m fairly smart. It’s only when I’m in the company of my highly intelligent friends and acquaintances that I am reminded of my intellectual limitations. There is a difference between being smart and being highly intelligent. The most significant difference, I believe, is inquisitiveness — the thirst for knowledge. Some people want to know more about life, about the world, or about how things work than the average human. It seems that these individuals have a genuine need to know things. Generally speaking, I don’t have this need.

Throughout my life, I have learned what I absolutely needed to know. In order to be a responsible driver, I learned the laws pertaining to driving on public roadways and I learned how to drive a vehicle safely and conscientiously. When I became a Dad, I learned how to be a responsible parent. I also learned that responsible parents cannot control everything in a young person’s life.

After more than twenty years of teaching, I learned how to make appropriate use of the computer technology which had not been available in my early years in the classroom. Even after my retirement, when I offered to step-in as a substitute middle school teacher in November 2019, it was imperative that I learn how to teach remotely on Zoom when the pandemic hit in March 2020.

Yes, I have been able and willing to learn that which I must learn, but beyond that, I am surprisingly indifferent to pursuing knowledge on other topics and issues. There is much I do not know about many things, and I’m astonishingly content with not knowing. At times, I do consider the possibility of expanding my knowledge base. Opportunities to do so are plentiful in the greater San Francisco Bay Area. 

I honestly don’t know why I lack the motivation to acquire more knowledge about more things, but I’m okay with not knowing.