Start with basic life skills. If you find yourself needing to do something, and it’s something other people routinely do, learn how. It is not only useful, it will help you build a better understanding of the world.

Academically, study areas that look interesting to you. Try different things. Some won’t be that exciting, but will still broaden your range of knowledge. Others you will want to dig into and learn more.

Add to your general knowledge by watching social trends, following the news, and reading books. Academics are just one source of information. Knowledge is everywhere you look. You just have to pay attention to what you’re looking at.

All knowledge is interconnected. You don’t just add to it incrementally. Everything you learn can eventually connect to something else you’ve learned to form a larger piece of the puzzle. The interconnections are sometimes more valuable than the individual bits of knowledge that make them up.

We are all trying to understand the world we live in. We start out knowing only about our immediate surroundings. Seeing a bigger picture of the world, and knowing more about other cultures, helps us better anticipate things that are likely to affect us. It helps us make all kinds of decisions, from the personal to the political and social.

Also, keep in mind that understanding is not just useful. Learning can be a fun, all by itself. Some things are worth doing just because we enjoy doing them.