Being oblivious isn’t cool

August 31, 2011 · 1 comment

A bright lady I follow on twitter who lives in Philadelphia tweeted:

Note: Do not ask, “Who is Michael Vick?” in the office unless you want to eat alone at lunch forever.

Michael Vick is of course the Philadelphia Eagles quarterback who just signed a $100 million contract. And of course there was that dog-fighting prison thing.

I am positive that this person who is oblivious to Mike Vick knows many more things than her colleagues because she spends her time in intellectual pursuits rather than following football. However, if she doesn’t know the basics she loses the opportunity to interact.

You might not like football but you should know your local team’s stars. Personal Brilliance Awareness requires an awareness of your environment. This awareness provides the key to access varying perspectives and ideas.

Ignorance is not bliss and it certainly is not attractive.

Pay attention to the basics. I know what a Kardashian is, that a pitch is what they call a soccer field, and that Jersey Boys is a musical and Snooki is a Jersey girl, even though none of these topics are interesting to me. Having an awareness for the day-to-day topics allow you into a conversation that may lead to a breakthrough.

To do: Study a topic that is far from your normal area. What can you learn about yourself?

Photo credit: Matthew Straubmiller

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  • Directhit

     I used to be pretty well read, nowadays though I would be eating alone at her office. I heard the news stories covering the guy on the cruelty to dogs stuff but like most stuff, it gets forgotten. Now if she needed information that could further her career, sell her car, what grows easiest in your backyard or why you should never pick up litter on a busy street bare-handed… I could be her guy. Now if she needs to know who the key players are on the Cardinals football team, well sorry she’s SOL and I don’t care if I eat alone.
     
    You Jim are a brilliant writer but I think you missed it on this blog post, I heard that in our current society that more information is generated in a 48 hour period than between 2007 and the beginning of time(paraphrased of course.) Who has the time to know all that useless fluff? I may know that you should run a finger nail file in only one direction across your nails, and if you would asked me about “pitch” it either has to do with baseball or that black crap that keeps the cracks in your roof from leaking.