Recently I noticed an article in my favorite weekend (salmon colored) newspaper.
The piece was about the band Oasis. I said to myself, who?
No, not The Who. Clearly, I know who they are/were.
I even named the column after a Who song. But I had to search Oasis.
At that moment, it occurred to me there’s a lot about which I know little or nothing. Ironically, I guess I know the ’60s and Sam Cooke’s lyrics to “Wonderful, Wonderful” (reference later).
Back to Oasis, an English rock band formed in 1991, about the time I became a full-time journalist. No doubt my focus was chiefly on learning to do the job well.
I ignored things that weren’t a priority, or simply didn’t interest me. Note I use the word “ignore” rather than “dismiss.” Much moreefficient.
So much for the end of the 20th century. It’s relevant that as of Y2K I was already past 50, when interests tend to change anyway.
I continued ignoring the old things and added new categories in the 21st century.
Along came the big crunch of 2020 when COVID struck. Most of us were in physical lockdown. Everyday life needed the attention that might have gone elsewhere. Remember empty shelves?
Now 2025 is nearly over. It’s disturbing that I might have ignored important stuff for an entire quarter-century, so I tried to determine what categories might be missing.
My personal business and relationships remained firm.
The biggest sector of ignored information was rooted in social media.
Just imagine how much time and energy I saved when deciding not to take part in everything falling under that headline: what to watch, wear, eat, who’s who, and massive amounts of insignificant (to me) stuff.
Forget influencers and gossip. In effect, I disregarded celebrities.
Put together a lineup of today’s high-profile performers and notables and probably I couldn’t name any.
Every once in a while, I recognize a name, but it’s usually when that person was in the news for reasons that interested me even less.
I apologize when truly important people die without my taking notice.
Is it time for me to defend myself on this whole “ignoring” idea?
Then I’ll skip back to Sam Cooke. His “don’t know much” subjects were mostly math, science and general knowledge: he didn’t “know much about history, biology, algebra, trigonometry, a slide rule, geography, a science book, and the French he took.”
Me too, except some French.
Without question, what we should learn, use continuously and refine have not fundamentally changed, particularly language skills.
But how we learn, and compensate for lack of knowledge, is now at our fingertips.
So were facts about Oasis. Why bother to take up brain space for it?
Therefore, I pose this question: to what should we be paying attention, and what can be ignored until needed?
I’d argue a significant shift has taken place, likely associated with age.
Top of the list, for seniors particularly, is physical and mental health-related information, and strategies to maintain our best possible condition.
The “social media stuff” I ignore is more likely to diminish, rather than enhance, our well-being.
When it comes to external factors, like the news, I have mixed feelings, but believe it necessary for a responsible person to be informed on major local, national and world topics … even if only the weather forecast.
Despite what he didn’t know, Sam Cooke declared “I do know that I love you.”
If we are lucky enough to have loved ones, allocate lots of room in your brain and heart for all that info.
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