"The point I'm trying to make in the downward-trajectory of this introduction to these new factoid (or bits-of-interest) posts is that one should never become too socially intimidated, or otherwise societally fettered, that they just stop learning for fear of someone else finding out they didn't already know something. There is an old saying (which I'll paraphrase) which is about as true as true gets: The most agile-minded, clever and knowledgeable of us are those who are not afraid to ask for clarification or explanation when they don't understand. Keep a dictionary on hand when you're reading a book. There's no shame in understanding what you're reading. Dictionary's exist for a reason ;)
"In my personal and professional life, I do my best to avoid highly intelligent individuals with extremely low self-esteem, as their company never seems to foster any sort of learning, sharing or growing. Better, still, I should hang out with folks who (regardless of their level of intelligence) are curious, interested, interesting and non-judgemental. It's been my experience that if you stay away from the "better" class of people, your life will be much more rewarding and enjoyable. The one thing that you must remember about people who look down at you is that they're, generally, consumed with the fear that you'll find out how much they, themselves, don't know or understand. Living life with one's guard constantly up is to, essentially, ensure one's own death (mentally, physically, spiritually; take your pick or go for option 4)."
