₦airaland Forum

SaintChukz:
@ Op...i think in one full swoop you have succeeded in contrasting your own opinion in the initial post. In the opening line you opined that -no knowledge is wasted appears to you as axiomatic and as arguably sacrosanct, and in your last line statement you then went on to say that it would be stellar to have a "smattering" of many things. Now, with emphasis on the word "smattering", i'm trying hard to figure out how you would have done that if no single amount of time was put into it to gather the little knowledge you termed "smattering". Mind you the knowledge of a thing doesn't have to be acquired in full for you to term it actual knowledge. You also opined that having a particular knowledge of a thing that has no modicum or bearing on what the future tends to hold for you is sheer waste of time because you may never get to use it. I would say you were wrong there in that assertion because, how would you actually get to know what lies ahead of you when you haven't even gotten there? Or do you have a foreseer gift of telling what the future will bring? In my own candid opinion, i would rather opine that no knowledge is actually wasted until it is left unused. It has to be so because you never can tell when that little "survival skill" you garnered at one time or the other would become very handy to you at a critical point in your life, so i would rather not dismiss any knowledge no matter how irrelevant it may seem at a particular time on the premise that it is never going to be useful to me, when i know we all live in a constantly dynamic world. Finally, i think it is best to make myself feel "important" at any particular stage in life rather than feel "impotent" at a near unforeseeable stage in the future.

U v spoken pretty well

The fact that everything is a vanity does not imply one should not gather or acquire things of value like knowledge or wealth.If you don't view that no knowledge is ever wasted,it does not imply that Mr. B share your view.To me,no knowledge is wasted-either it's a one-time thing or whichever.If one does not use the knowledge now,one will definitely apply the knowledge before the end of time.Your perceptions are primarily yours.

Op, know something about everything, you can't know everything about something.... That little knowledge will be helpful someday...

U ain't asked to go spend years trying to learn/ study everything ..'just something abt everything'.. Cheers!

duality:
@ op, You seem to be intelligent but the the following never occurred to you

- "Applied Knowledge" and
- " Transferable skills"

Research about these two and reread what you wrote.

Intelligent in what sense?

Gbam!!! Serendipity z actually the one showing off with his verbosity,while SaintChukz z actually killing the argument with his sterling discerment and clarity of points. SaintChukz:u remind me of Chinua Achebe. Ride on,bruv!quote author=Dereformer post=17455645]@ all above me;

Too much grammar![/quote]

Truly, no knowledge is a waste. You will use it to help yourself one day or you may use it help somebody out one day.

As a leader, "you must know something about everything and everything about something" (Forgotten where I saw this quote ).

Therefore, no knowledge is a waste.

It is true!No knowledge is eva a waste because wat u knw u knw,no matter wat....u wil neva play novice 2it.expt online stuff dat u endup nt mekin use of atime

This brings to mind
Slum Dog Millionaire.

Serendipity:
It becomes foolhardiness and unbecoming when we are unreasonably obstinate to the extent that we fail to admit the truth.
=
I stated unequivocally, that one had better acquire knowledge that there is high possibility of one using. In everything there is an opportunity cost, the opportunity cost of acquiring the knowledge of Spanish is that knowledge of Hausa language I would have acquired which will now be forfeited.
=
Now, there is a possibility that I will get to use the knowledge of Spanish, but the possibility is lesser than that of Hausa given that If would go abroad, definitely, it wouldnt be to a Spanish country. Or what's the possibility of my serving as an interpreter?
=
THE OPERATIVE WORDS HERE ARE: the possibility of using the knowledge.

==
At certain point those days, I wanted to buy a Piano and then get a trainer, but on mature reflection, it became clear, that the possibility of my using that is infinitesimal and that it would be more politic to choose something that will have bearing on my life. And I did.
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It is better to use my time judiciously in acqisition of knowledge that use it in nugatory things.
=
Now how do you reconcile the example of Pitman Shorthand that I cited with your rejoinder?

You shouldn't have bothered with this reply.

SaintChukz:
@ Op...i think in one full swoop you have succeeded in contrasting your own opinion in the initial post. In the opening line you opined that -no knowledge is wasted appears to you as axiomatic and as arguably sacrosanct, and in your last line statement you then went on to say that it would be stellar to have a "smattering" of many things. Now, with emphasis on the word "smattering", i'm trying hard to figure out how you would have done that if no single amount of time was put into it to gather the little knowledge you termed "smattering". Mind you the knowledge of a thing doesn't have to be acquired in full for you to term it actual knowledge. You also opined that having a particular knowledge of a thing that has no modicum or bearing on what the future tends to hold for you is sheer waste of time because you may never get to use it. I would say you were wrong there in that assertion because, how would you actually get to know what lies ahead of you when you haven't even gotten there? Or do you have a foreseer gift of telling what the future will bring? In my own candid opinion, i would rather opine that no knowledge is actually wasted until it is left unused. It has to be so because you never can tell when that little "survival skill" you garnered at one time or the other would become very handy to you at a critical point in your life, so i would rather not dismiss any knowledge no matter how irrelevant it may seem at a particular time on the premise that it is never going to be useful to me, when i know we all live in a constantly dynamic world. Finally, i think it is best to make myself feel "important" at any particular stage in life rather than feel "impotent" at a near unforeseeable stage in the future.

Well said.

Serendipity:
Undoubtedly the saying that no knowledge is wasted appears axiomatic and arguably sacrosanct.
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In his book ''Think Big'', (pp. 200-212) Ben Carson argues that you never can know what you will be doing fifteen years from now hence one should grab every available knowledge.
=
He cited an incident where he was before an interviewer who mentioned en passe that he had heard about a concert and he also quipped that he too had heard about it which visibly left the interviewer surprised and they then started discussing classical music..
He contends that that knowlege of classical music was instrumental in his success in that interview.
=
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MY OPINION
Methinks that having or acquiring some knowledge is sheer and utter waste of scarce time and resources.
-----------------------------------------------
For example, I don't see how the knowledge of how to prepare a cake or sew clothes would have a significant bearing on my life if I were a lawyer. This is truer given that I may never get the time to come and be sewing clothes or making cakes for either myself or family.
Even if I would get to use them in future, wouldn't it be once in a blue moon as in Ben Carson's case.
---------------------------------------------
In high school, I was very good at the use of Pitman Shorthand. An aeon has elapsed since I left junior secondary, and I have never got to use not even a vestige of the knowledge I acquired in that subject.
=

Again, acquiring some of this otiose and apparently irrelevant knowledge may be at the expense of knowledge which would have been more apt and handy. In other words, you may be wasting time acquiring knowledge that has not even a modicum bearing on your life or knowledge you may never get to use due to your discipline.
=
At any rate, I suggest that it would be stellar to have a smattering of many things.
=
Your methodical views are welcome!

See as you just dey blow grammar. Carry go, nothing dey do you. Back to your illustrations. Whatever you profession you won't be in active service for life except you don't live long enough anyway. You'll have loads of free time. You never can say when any of those skills might be handy. What if you stumble on a vital document that's written in short hand for your consumption alone? Me think you should wait till the end of your life to decide whether the knowledge you've acquired is useful or not. It's rather too early now or whatcha think?

SaintChukz:
@ Op...i think in one full swoop you have succeeded in contrasting your own opinion in the initial post. In the opening line you opined that -no knowledge is wasted appears to you as axiomatic and as arguably sacrosanct, and in your last line statement you then went on to say that it would be stellar to have a "smattering" of many things. Now, with emphasis on the word "smattering", i'm trying hard to figure out how you would have done that if no single amount of time was put into it to gather the little knowledge you termed "smattering". Mind you the knowledge of a thing doesn't have to be acquired in full for you to term it actual knowledge. You also opined that having a particular knowledge of a thing that has no modicum or bearing on what the future tends to hold for you is sheer waste of time because you may never get to use it. I would say you were wrong there in that assertion because, how would you actually get to know what lies ahead of you when you haven't even gotten there? Or do you have a foreseer gift of telling what the future will bring? In my own candid opinion, i would rather opine that no knowledge is actually wasted until it is left unused. It has to be so because you never can tell when that little "survival skill" you garnered at one time or the other would become very handy to you at a critical point in your life, so i would rather not dismiss any knowledge no matter how irrelevant it may seem at a particular time on the premise that it is never going to be useful to me, when i know we all live in a constantly dynamic world. Finally, i think it is best to make myself feel "important" at any particular stage in life rather than feel "impotent" at a near unforeseeable stage in the future.

Nerd!

Serendipity:
Thank you but I can never learn how to make cakes because the possibility of my using that knowledge is infinitesimal.

I don't think people use that saying when referring to skills like baking a cake, sewing, knowing how to fix a car engine or how to do a heart byepass surgery. More often than not, it refers to what some folks term general knowledge. Information you garner from reading the newspapers, a magazine, a novel or even a thread on an online forum like Nairaland. It is knowledge which doesn't necessarily apply to your profession but which will help you to understand the basics of a particular topic. I may not know how to bake a cake, but I know what icing is, I know what currants are, I can identify a cake tha has butter icing from one that doesn't. I may not know how to fix a car engine, but I can identify it in a car. I know what a radiator does and can point out some other parts under the car bonnet. I may not know how to perform a heart byepass surgery, but I know the basics of how the heart works and its compartments. I may not speak fluent French, but their words and sentences I can understand.

I may not even know the nitty gritty of your profession which I believe you identified as law, but I know who a plaintiff is, who a bailiff is, I know what the burden of proof refers to, what an acquittal is, an adjournment, what certain civic and criminal laws state simply by reading John Grisham and watching law related series on TV. Besides, who knows tomorrow? I might be in court tomorrow and you my lawyer may be doing a shoddy job at representing me. I'd like to know enough of the law to tell you you're screwing up. :-)

That I think is the knowledge people refer to when they use that axiomatic expression.

I believe "no knowledge is a waste" falls under the fallacy "argumentum ad ignoratiam.

To me, it has to do with the individual: If an individual feels no knowledge is a waste, that his or her problem. If another individual feels otherwise, that's his or her problem.

I believe religion (christianity and islam) is also a fallacy.

Too much English grammar floating all over this thread.

In my opinion, until the death of a man, he can never be certain about which knowledge or skill he gained in his lifetime will be useless.

The fact however remains that some knowledge/skill we gain in our lifetime will never be used but it would be silly to start pointing out the useless knowledge/skills now when we still have a long journey ahead of us.

since1914:
O.P., I agree with you 200 per cent! I think this is a general problem around the world today. People hear a dictum or maxim and then the next thing is to start using it carelessly. In my opinion, the question we should have asked is... What is the context in which the words (no knowledge is wasted) were first spoken?

This is because there are several notorious maxims like the one above, being daily bandied around without having any correlation to the context in which they were first used. It is also important to note that just because these maxims are been used every day and almost by everyone for decades doesn't in any way make them logical.

If you were in the Architecture and Design industry you probably would have also heard notorious maxims like "Form Follows Function". This has even used by Design professors around the world for well over Ninety years now. In the course of my research, I found so many holes in that maxim. First the phrase was misquoted and secondly the context in which it was used then, is difficult to align with how it is been used today. In fact as part of a larger body of work, I have only recently written a 5000 word polemics on the irrelevance of this same maxim- Form follow Function.

So in essence, with regards to the maxim- No knowledge is wasted, we must look for the context in which it was first spoken before ascribing any meaning to it. But on its face-value, it think it is absolute nonsense. For instance, in the early days of the craze for Oracle, CCNA and other computer Certifications, I had associates who graduated as Civil Engineers and while they were waiting to go for service and even while job-hunting, enrolled for and took a handful of these certifications. I was disgusted then because I knew, they will never be able to use them; and till this day they have never used those certifications and will never use them because they are full time Civil Engineers. Imagine if they had used half of the resources and time they had then to enroll for classes on Building Information Modelling programs like Revit Architecture, Bentley etc, won't they be standing well above their peers in the industry today?

That said, I still think it is good for people to casually study about different subjects just for the sake of general knowledge, without expecting any gratification on account of this. The mere knowledge they have acquired in the process should be enough gratification.

The problem we usually have is when people aggressively veer off their professional mark to go speculate in other parallel professional terrains acquiring knowledge they don't need, wasting time they don't have.

SaintChukz:
@ Op...i think in one full swoop you have succeeded in contrasting your own opinion in the initial post. In the opening line you opined that -no knowledge is wasted appears to you as axiomatic and as arguably sacrosanct, and in your last line statement you then went on to say that it would be stellar to have a "smattering" of many things. Now, with emphasis on the word "smattering", i'm trying hard to figure out how you would have done that if no single amount of time was put into it to gather the little knowledge you termed "smattering". Mind you the knowledge of a thing doesn't have to be acquired in full for you to term it actual knowledge. You also opined that having a particular knowledge of a thing that has no modicum or bearing on what the future tends to hold for you is sheer waste of time because you may never get to use it. I would say you were wrong there in that assertion because, how would you actually get to know what lies ahead of you when you haven't even gotten there? Or do you have a foreseer gift of telling what the future will bring? In my own candid opinion, i would rather opine that no knowledge is actually wasted until it is left unused. It has to be so because you never can tell when that little "survival skill" you garnered at one time or the other would become very handy to you at a critical point in your life, so i would rather not dismiss any knowledge no matter how irrelevant it may seem at a particular time on the premise that it is never going to be useful to me, when i know we all live in a constantly dynamic world. Finally, i think it is best to make myself feel "important" at any particular stage in life rather than feel "impotent" at a near unforeseeable stage in the future.

Serendipity:
Undoubtedly the saying that no knowledge is wasted appears axiomatic and arguably sacrosanct.
=
In his book ''Think Big'', (pp. 200-212) Ben Carson argues that you never can know what you will be doing fifteen years from now hence one should grab every available knowledge.
=
He cited an incident where he was before an interviewer who mentioned en passe that he had heard about a concert and he also quipped that he too had heard about it which visibly left the interviewer surprised and they then started discussing classical music..
He contends that that knowlege of classical music was instrumental in his success in that interview.
=
=
MY OPINION
Methinks that having or acquiring some knowledge is sheer and utter waste of scarce time and resources.
-----------------------------------------------
For example, I don't see how the knowledge of how to prepare a cake or sew clothes would have a significant bearing on my life if I were a lawyer. This is truer given that I may never get the time to come and be sewing clothes or making cakes for either myself or family.
Even if I would get to use them in future, wouldn't it be once in a blue moon as in Ben Carson's case.
---------------------------------------------
In high school, I was very good at the use of Pitman Shorthand. An aeon has elapsed since I left junior secondary, and I have never got to use not even a vestige of the knowledge I acquired in that subject.
=

Again, acquiring some of this otiose and apparently irrelevant knowledge may be at the expense of knowledge which would have been more apt and handy. In other words, you may be wasting time acquiring knowledge that has not even a modicum bearing on your life or knowledge you may never get to use due to your discipline.
=
At any rate, I suggest that it would be stellar to have a smattering of many things.
=
Your methodical views are welcome!

stupid use of grammar by the peeps quoted... all because of school

thousands of years ago when wonders were been built without the educated peeps or school but with common sense, trial and error where you peeps alive

"No Knowledge is wasted" is the truth not a fallacy...

-----------------------------------------------
For example, I don't see how the knowledge of how to prepare a cake or sew clothes would have a significant bearing on my life if I were a lawyer. This is truer given that I may never get the time to come and be sewing clothes or making cakes for either myself or family.
Even if I would get to use them in future, wouldn't it be once in a blue moon as in Ben Carson's case.

Imagine this scenario: your client who's a tailor commits a crime in his shop and in order to defend him based on a technicality, wouldn't it be useful if you had working knowledge of what he does?

Even if it happens once in a blue moon, the fact is it served its purpose and so therefore was not wasted.

I disagree with your logic, you might have to rethink this.

dabossman:
I don't think people use that saying when referring to skills like baking a cake, sewing, knowing how to fix a car engine or how to do a heart byepass surgery. More often than not, it refers to what some folks term general knowledge. Information you garner from reading the newspapers, a magazine, a novel or even a thread on an online forum like Nairaland. It is knowledge which doesn't necessarily apply to your profession but which will help you to understand the basics of a particular topic. I may not know how to bake a cake, but I know what icing is, I know what currants are, I can identify a cake tha has butter icing from one that doesn't. I may not know how to fix a car engine, but I can identify it in a car. I know what a radiator does and can point out some other parts under the car bonnet. I may not know how to perform a heart byepass surgery, but I know the basics of how the heart works and its compartments. I may not speak fluent French, but their words and sentences I can understand.

I may not even know the nitty gritty of your profession which I believe you identified as law, but I know who a plaintiff is, who a bailiff is, I know what the burden of proof refers to, what an acquittal is, an adjournment, what certain civic and criminal laws state simply by reading John Grisham and watching law related series on TV.

That I think is the knowledge people refer to when they use that axiomatic expression.

It is in the interest of a wise person to seek for more wisdom. Also, learning keeps the soul young. You can keep abreast of politics by reading newspapers; many of organizational skills are learnt on the job. You might never have learnt such from school. However, not all information is relevant. It is advisable to read wide but to study hard on relevant areas and then skim through the rest. One thing I have learnt from my many years of education is that learning actually takes time so, it is important to direct your collective on the areas that will have more impact on your life. Use a cost-benefit analysis to decipher information.

Nice write up.

But I'll still agree with the statement for the following reasons:
(1) Even if you'll only need to apply that knowledge once in your lifetime, then it is worth having.

(2) Some knowledge might not be for you; someone may just need it from you. So if your knowledge is for the betterment of others, then it is worth it.

(3) We can't tell how our lives will dress up in the nearest future that's why all opportunities should be seized tightly.

(4) Some knowledge are needed to open the door to other areas of life.

(5) You are helping your mind. Knowledge in some simingly less important things, can directly or indirectly affect your response to the "important things"

SaintChukz:
Do you know it is sheer arrogance to want to force your own beliefs and opinion on others? Please define truth for me? What is truth to you may not necessary be the universal truth to others. Stop for a minute and try to view the world through the eyes of others with recourse to your own views. On the pitman shorthand example you cited, what if you are appointed tomorrow to a position in government circles that would require the use of such a skill or is that not a possibility as well? Again citing the example of the relevance of the spanish language vis-a-vis the Hausa language doesn't even hold a bearing on this discussion for the following reasons ; (1) The Spanish language was propagated by Missionaries, Merchants and Slave masters from the Spanish kingdom to several other nations where they traded centuries ago hence the wide coverage of the language, was the hausa language propagated in a such manner? (2.) if you are an indigent hausa born, would you require going through extra-mural lessons to learn it? It is with the coming of globalization that we are now beginning to see the need to learn foreign languages, i once watched a feature on tv where a european man living in Northern Nigeria could speak not only hausa language but also the native indigent language of the people he was living amongst. So it should be same for you, if you will be going abroad, you can always learn the language when you get there, but then when you get back home and you no longer have a need of that language you learnt, would you call it a waste of knowledge? When it wasn't during the period you needed it, so why should it become a waste now that you don't need it? In countries like America and Canada that are predominantly english speaking, do you know that the knowledge of the spanish language would still be an invaluable asset to you, because as far as i know there are still a sizable number of spanish speaking communities in those countries. If truth is to come from only one source, what then is the credibility of such truth when it hasn't been tested by others?

mhen!

pls does anyone know if banks are functioning today? Somebody said they are not, and where I am now nobody or way to confirm unless using nairaland

Sorry for the topic derailing

I could not finish your write up...I can predict that you are not a science student. If you are into science, you will realise that every knowledge is important. For example, the way the human body works is exactly how every moving object works from cars to rockets. Every knowledge is important but unfurtunately, we can't have them all due to limited time.

@OP, you can't say knowledge is wasted because you don't know when U may need it. However, you should concentrate on gaining knowledge in your chosen field or career.

Dereformer:
@ all above me;

Too much grammar!

.
Yes o, too much grammar and little communication.

Serendipity:
It becomes foolhardiness and unbecoming when we are unreasonably obstinate to the extent that we fail to admit the truth.
=
I stated unequivocally, that one had better acquire knowledge that there is high possibility of one using. In everything there is an opportunity cost, the opportunity cost of acquiring the knowledge of Spanish is that knowledge of Hausa language I would have acquired which will now be forfeited.
=
Now, there is a possibility that I will get to use the knowledge of Spanish, but the possibility is lesser than that of Hausa given that If would go abroad, definitely, it wouldnt be to a Spanish country. Or what's the possibility of my serving as an interpreter?
=
THE OPERATIVE WORDS HERE ARE: the possibility of using the knowledge.

==
At certain point those days, I wanted to buy a Piano and then get a trainer, but on mature reflection, it became clear, that the possibility of my using that is infinitesimal and that it would be more politic to choose something that will have bearing on my life. And I did.
=
It is better to use my time judiciously in acqisition of knowledge that use it in nugatory things.
=
Now how do you reconcile the example of Pitman Shorthand that I cited with your rejoinder?

Looks like you're all about your life. Has it occurred to you that one can gain knowledge with the sole aim of helping others? Your knowledge of shorthand, for example, got 'wasted' because you wanted it to. Someone could've learned that skill from you. Truth is knowledge can't be categorized as useful or more significant. To do so is to make yourself an enemy of true knowledge.

JEITO:
Nice write up.

But I'll still agree with the statement for the following reasons:
(1) Even if you'll only need to apply that knowledge once in your lifetime, then it is worth having.

(2) Some knowledge might not be for you; someone may just need it from you. So if your knowledge is for the betterment of others, then it is worth it.

(3) We can't tell how our lives will dress up in the nearest future that's why all opportunities should be seized tightly.

(4) Some knowledge are needed to open the door to other areas of life.

(5) You are helping your mind. Knowledge in some simingly less important things, can directly or indirectly affect your response to the "important things"

.
I concur

JEITO:
Nice write up.

But I'll still agree with the statement for the following reasons:
(1) Even if you'll only need to apply that knowledge once in your lifetime, then it is worth having.

(2) Some knowledge might not be for you; someone may just need it from you. So if your knowledge is for the betterment of others, then it is worth it.

(3) We can't tell how our lives will dress up in the nearest future that's why all opportunities should be seized tightly.

(4) Some knowledge are needed to open the door to other areas of life.

(5) You are helping your mind. Knowledge in some simingly less important things, can directly or indirectly affect your response to the "important things"

Beautiful piece. Exactly my thought, especially (2).

You think that knowledge or skill you have acquired is a waste because you are already in a position where the skill is not needed. What if you had find yourself in a position where that skill is needed would you have complained?

I learnt how to play musical instruments long before I became an accountant. Despite how tidious my job is I still enjoy playing musical instruments and I make a lot from it. Sometimes is all about passion and what you love doing not necessarily the monetary aspect.

In the end, a lot of knowledge will be lost.

The challenge is that you can't adequately tell which knowledge will be useless.