To some degree it’s like learning history.
When you initially read history, it is simply a whirl of names and dates. Nothing generally seems to stick. Nevertheless the more you learn, the greater hooks you have for brand new facts to stick onto– which means you accumulate knowledge at what’s colloquially called an exponential rate. Once you remember that Normans conquered England in 1066, it will probably catch your attention when you hear that other Normans conquered southern Italy at in regards to the same time. Which can make you wonder about Normandy, and be aware when a book that is third that Normans are not, like most of what exactly is now called France, tribes that flowed in as the Roman empire collapsed, but Vikings (norman = north man) who arrived four centuries later in 911. Continue reading “Surprises make us laugh, and surprises are what one would like to deliver.”