OK, so I took a few liberties with the title of this post. What I have in mind is that information can be thought of as light. With the use of a colored lens, certain wavelengths of light are allowed and others are not. This can be very useful when we want to explore things in detail. Sometimes, colored lenses allow us to pick out specific details from what we are seeing, details that would be lost if passed through a clear lens. Other times, we want to specifically ignore certain wavelengths, or maybe look at wavelengths of light that we can't normally see at all. But enough with the analogy.
The book I'm reading on food and history uses one such (specifically) colored lens. The chapter I read earlier today examined the role of food in 20th century politics. Specifically, how battling over food was at the heart of the Berlin Airlift, and how food production, or lack thereof, was at the heart of the rise and fall of Soviet communism as well as the rise and subsequent relaxation of Chinese communism. I knew of most of these events as they exist individually - the Berlin Airlift, Stalin's Five Year Plans, and Mao's Great Leap Forward - but Tom Standage presents those events under a lens I've never used before.
There is certainly much to be gained by strengthening the connections between what I know. Despite my underwhelming performance at trivia contests, I believe I have quite a bit of useful knowledge. Of course it is important to continue learning new things, and I would say that is the dominant priority of continued education. But strengthening the relationships between what I already know, forming a dense web of knowledge so to speak, is important too.
I am trying to start the habit of having Google Maps open whenever I read the news. When I read about a place I am even somewhat unfamiliar with, I'll search the location and trying to look around a bit. I hope this will build a strong geographical base from which to build a better understanding of international affairs.
The book I'm reading on food and history uses one such (specifically) colored lens. The chapter I read earlier today examined the role of food in 20th century politics. Specifically, how battling over food was at the heart of the Berlin Airlift, and how food production, or lack thereof, was at the heart of the rise and fall of Soviet communism as well as the rise and subsequent relaxation of Chinese communism. I knew of most of these events as they exist individually - the Berlin Airlift, Stalin's Five Year Plans, and Mao's Great Leap Forward - but Tom Standage presents those events under a lens I've never used before.
There is certainly much to be gained by strengthening the connections between what I know. Despite my underwhelming performance at trivia contests, I believe I have quite a bit of useful knowledge. Of course it is important to continue learning new things, and I would say that is the dominant priority of continued education. But strengthening the relationships between what I already know, forming a dense web of knowledge so to speak, is important too.
I am trying to start the habit of having Google Maps open whenever I read the news. When I read about a place I am even somewhat unfamiliar with, I'll search the location and trying to look around a bit. I hope this will build a strong geographical base from which to build a better understanding of international affairs.
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