Why we need to embrace the irrelevant, pointless and ridiculous

Now I wish I could write you a melody so plain
That could hold you dear lady from going insane
That could ease you and cool you and cease the pain
Of your useless and pointless knowledge.
Bob Dylan, Tombstone Blues.

One of my rabbis in secondary school likes to berate me about the fact that I am unable to remember the Gemarah I learned in yeshivah but will never forget the birthdays of messrs. Bergkamp, Henry etc. I didn't bother pointing out that my knowledge of cricket batting averages is far more developed than footballers birthdays but I presume it would have incurred the same treatment. Whilst the comparison is perhaps an unfair one it is true that knowledge of irrelevant facts and figures has always been a passion of mine.  

It is quite interesting to observe what people consider 'relevant'. In certain schools of Jewish learning, particularly in the Lithuanian school of Talmudic study, everything in the Talmud is relevant as it is its own end. Although learning is not really about coming out with a particular body of knowledge but embracing the process by which the knowledge is acquired, its all-encompassing importance makes it worth memorising.

In other areas, relevance has much to do with ultimate financial success. In terms of learning foreign languages, for example, the following scenario will often occur: person a. 'Hi, I've decided to learn Italian' person b. 'What's the point? Learn Chinese, that's where the economic future lies' etc. Relevant = useful + productive.  

But my problem with all this is as soon as something is relevant, necessary or important to know it becomes boring and brain draining. Memorising hurts and ultimately locks you into a particular pattern of thought which becomes tedious and sterile very quickly. Once we have to do something it loses its appeal. Reminds me of the idea of why the person who performs mitzvoth when commanded is superior to the one who does them voluntarily.

 I think that part of the problem is that as human beings we have a basic need to make our own distinctive and creative mark on this earth, which can apply to things as simple as the ideas we communicate with other people. When something is relevant and expected, our uniqueness feels challenged. When I arrived at university, I sought to follow a structure and memorise it, to pursue the relevance to attain that employability standard of a mid-2:1. But then it got boring. Everyone did the same thing. This wasn't mine and didn't feel distinctive in any sense so I realised I needed to change my whole attitude towards studying and learning in the broadest sense of the word. 

So I  began to embrace the irrelevant and ridiculous. Because the irrelevant was fun  and suited me perfectly. It also removed the burden of having to do things just because they were useful. I heard a brilliant Shiur from rabbi Dweck the other day which included the point that many are reluctant to broaden their scope of knowledge for fear of challenging the 'working definitions' that we use on a daily basis in our adult lives. New ideas will automatically be incorporated into a pre-existing framework that we are comfortable with. To pursue truth and deep understanding we have to be like children, approaching new ideas with innocence and a degree of naivete. 

As kids we don't care why we are interested in what we are interested in, we just are. Childhood contains the seeds of what makes us truly us and when we forget for a few moments what we have to do/be and embrace that ridiculousness within it reminds us what makes us unique as individuals. A bit more of this can only be a good thing.