Yesterday, when I was telling this intern of ours about our Independence Day, he asked when Finland gained it’s independence. Naturally, not a hard one and neither was the one about under whose reign we were before that. But when he asked for how long Finland was under Russia, I hit a blank. A little over a century? A little less? Geez.

 

Trivia, like dates and names and specific details and such, has never been my cup of tea. I remember just about one, no, make it three, dates from history besides our independency date. Pähkinäsaaren rauha 1323, and the other two are more recent history: Talvisota 1939 and the end of Jatkosota 1945. But don’t ask me anything more precise!

 

I’m good at remembering things in a larger scale. I guess my brain just sort of dumps the details out as not-so-important data so as to be able to hold on to the entity. Eg. when I was studying I had to take a course in philosophy. I passed, so and so, because what I learned was a set of names and a set of theories, but I couldn’t pin them together. If I would try to recite some of that now, it would propably go something like this:

 

"Somewhere in the 18. century, (or was it 17.? or maybe 16. or 19.? well, a long time ago anyway), this French guy (or was he German? or maybe a Brit?)  – or might this one have been one of the Great Greeks’ theories??? Oh well, some famous philosopher somewhere in time had this theory about everything being just a buch of thoughts in one’s mind. That there would be no way to determine that anything is really there instead of being only a bundle of ideas in one’s head.

 

And then there was this "cogito, ergo sum" guy, whose name I can’t recall (I only get Dumas or Umberto Eco when I try to figure it out), whose main point was that only thinking makes us real. The most famous philosophy in history, I might say. One, that has been both sited most often and propably also twisted most often. Like Garfield – or rather the guy who drew Garfield, whateverhisnameisagain – ‘I eat, therefore I am’."

 

And so on. I mean, as a theologist I should remember the most important dates in church history, at the least the most important dates of reformation. But, nope. Luther nailed his thesis (how many were there now? no idea…) onto some door (I think it was a door) in the year 1517 (or 1514? or 1527? well, first half the 16. centrury, anyway).

 

Okay, I suppose you got the point already. I remember and know a lot. But not the specifics. They seem a little irrelevant. I mean, who cares what the exact date of some centuries old happening was? As long as we know it happened. Right? Focus on the important stuff, forget trivia. Except for the important trivia. Hmm.

 

[Sorry, Dad.]