Sherlock Holmes in A Study in Scarlet (via John Hawks):
“You see,” he explained, “I consider that a man’s brain originally is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose. A fool takes in all the lumber of every sort that he comes across, so that the knowledge which might be useful to him gets crowded out, or at best is jumbled up with a lot of other things so that he has a difficulty in laying his hands upon it. Now the skilful workman is very careful indeed as to what he takes into his brain-attic. He will have nothing but the tools which may help him in doing his work, but of these he has a large assortment, and all in the most perfect order. It is a mistake to think that that little room has elastic walls and can distend to any extent. Depend upon it [that] there comes a time when for every addition of knowledge you forget something that you knew before. It is of the highest importance, therefore, not to have useless facts elbowing out the useful ones.”
I plan on returning to this topic– it’s interesting and important.
If you’d like to read what else I’ve written today, I’d point you toward my post on the Citizendium Blog about our coverage in the L.A. Times. Though I have some issues with the Times’ coverage, they quote me to finish off the article, which- to this midwesterner- is kinda exciting.
