Reading for expertise

One of the things most twenty-somethings need to come to terms with is their own cluelessness.

As much as we strive to learn in high school and college, the reality is that we will likely graduate into the real world with little to no knowledge in many areas our jobs and social circles require. Sure, we may be experts in mechanical engineering. But can we have an intelligent conversation about the government's clean energy policy? Or do we have a good understanding of the significance of Stravinsky's music?

In an era where the proliferation of content seems never-ending, we can be excused for not knowing everything. After all, if we are going to compartmentalize and limit our extracurricular learning to certain times of day, it may be impossible to be as cultured and knowledgeable as Renaissance men and women of yore.

So what can we do to compensate for this inherent weakness?

If the proliferation of content is a double-edged sword, the benefit of this proliferation is that it is usually easy to find basic information on any topic. And I don't mean just Wikipedia (although that is often a good place to start); the explosion in niche blogs and news aggregators has led to a steady stream of content relating to just about anything.

If there isn't a book, newspaper, or encyclopedia to answer a question, there is likely a blurb or posting somewhere on the web that can help start your research. A well-curated blogroll or Twitter feed can be a great way to keep track of the latest news in the areas you are most interested in. Combine this broad and up-to-date awareness with in-depth reading from subscriptions to a few choice magazines, and you, too, can sound as intelligent as those square-frame glasses-wearing, satchel-toting, cappuccino-drinking know-it-alls in the movies.

Plus, since you never find time to make it through an entire novel anymore, you might as well as get in snatches of reading on your mobile device of choice. Do it on a 3G iPad, and you can be trendy as well as educated.

Inspiration for this post came from Shekhar Lodha, a serial entrepreneur and scholar of the world from Saratoga, Calif.