My broad sense of this is that authors like Smil really paint the clear picture, and once you see that, it's kind of Oh, of course. That's such a primal thing to all these physical services that we take for granted.
That way you can be certain to learn something you didn't know previously.
The more you learn, the more you have a framework that the knowledge fits into.
It's the knowledge derived from information that gives you a competitive edge.
You need to understand things in order to invent beyond them.
Being flooded with information doesn't mean we have the right information or that we're in touch with the right people.
The present and future of knowledge attainment and essential business skills.
I agree with people like Richard Dawkins that mankind felt the need for creation myths. Before we really began to understand disease and the weather and things like that, we sought false explanations for them. Now science has filled in some of the realm - not all - that religion used to fill.
Our current expectations for what our students should learn in school were set fifty years ago to meet the needs of an economy based on manufacturing and agriculture. We now have an economy based on knowledge and technology.
People cannot become truly knowledgeable without being excellent readers.
