Thanks for starting a very interesting thread, b/a.
For what it's worth,
I (see how boldly I say that!) don't know the names of the leaders of France, Germany, China and Afghanistan (and I can't spell the name of the leader of Russia, so how can I expect anyone to believe me when I say I know it?!). And I'm 35.
It's interesting to me, how people judge other people for what those others do and don't know. I remember going out with a fellow who was extremely rude to me on more than one occasion, because I didn't know to whom he was referring when he talked about different sports figures. I didn't make fun of him when he didn't know to whom I was referring when I talked about different Shakespearean actors.
I guess it all depends on what's most important to each individual. It's been pointed out here that a lot of teenagers are keen on social things: boy-meets-girl kinda things, or clothes, image, music, etc. There's actually a lot to be said for this kind of limited attitude: these people will never go out and oppress other countries, for example!
It's kinda like a return to village values: your focus is on the immediate. You may know everything your neighbours are doing, but nothing about what's going on in the next village.
That being said, I don't have a lot of respect for people who have next to no general knowledge. I myself prefer to know less simply because I can't do anything about the horrible things that are going on in the world, and yet I get disproportionately upset (disproportionately, given that I can't do anything!). So - I prefer to be an ostrich about some things.
On the other hand, I am always fascinated to learn how things have been and how they fit in with how things are now - what has led to what - evolutions in thought, for example, or in social trends, etc. (When I was in the UK this summer I went to the Museum of Costume in Bath - amazing stuff there!)
So perhaps some of us grow up and follow world events closely, and some of us grow up and focus closely on personal development instead, and some of us grow up and manage to juggle the two. No one way is better than either of the others. I'm the middle kind: I'm very introspective and have been told I think too much, BUT I think that's partly what allows me to, for the most part, be very careful and mindful with other human beings, care for others, empathise and sympathise very strongly, reach out, understand, love and accept. For me, this is a better kind of human being to be than one who knows all the capitals of all the major powers. I'd rather know a little about a lot of things, than a lot about a few things (eg, a lot about what's going on in the world, but not so much about how to interact with the people with whom I come in contact daily, or about the myriad niches of interest there are in the world - *such as* the art of bonsai, different types of yoga, Scottish tartans, what some of the bones and muscles in the body are called and how they work with each other, how to frame up an excellent shot with a camera, how to parse a sentence, how to pare the toenails of the elderly, how lions hunt in the Serengeti, how octopii move, how to write a letter of condolence, how to make fettucini carbonara, how to read aloud to a child, etc etc etc).....
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy!
