"For most Americans, progress means accepting what is new because it is new, and discarding what is old because it is old. This may be good for a rapid turnover in business, but it is bad for continuity and stability in life. Progress, in an organic sense, should be cumulative, and though a certain amount of rubbish-clearing is always necessary, we lose part of the gain offered by a new invention if we automatically discard all the still valuable inventions that preceded it."
Replace 'progress' for 'knowledge' and the same holds. Learning is a time consuming activity that takes up memory and requires effort and dedication. Before engaging in any learning activity we must ask ourselves: is this something I will use and find valuable in 10, 20, 30 years? Or is this something that is just valuable now because the 'now' and the 'here'?
Related reading: How much of the knowledge you know now you knew three years ago?
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