Knowledge - The depth and the area

We all know a lot of things. Some of us knows a lot about a certain subject or topic and some of us know lot of different topics from scratch.

The former type of knowledge would be analogous to depth. It is not possible to have depth in all the subjects, it is not needed and not expected. But yes, it is expected that you would posses depth in the sector you are specialized in due to your background, academics or ambition. No one is expected to know everything about MBA before you graduate from a b-school, but if you have graduated from a tech school you are expected to know about your field. Apart from this there are various ways to enhance you depth. One of the ways I use to increase my depth is the top down approach derived from the surface area of my knowledge exposure.*

Area - Newspapers, blogs, Magazines, TV, books etc etc gives you an opportunity to expand your knowledge area. You are expected to know a bit about finance, politics, economics, sports, media, entertainment, industry etc etc. Difference between this type of knowledge from the earlier is that this can be an output of casual reading or reading as a practice. No one can program or feed you this kind of knowledge. This only depends on you exposure, habits, attitude and hunger for knowledge.

* Now coming to the point how to get both. Mind you we want to create a equilibrium, lets just say its represented by the equilateral triangle.

Aim is to get enough area and enough knowledge.

I use newspapers, articles, RSS Feeds, magazines, TV, Books to cover as much as subjects possible. I dont look forward to be a master in each but an attempt to scratch the surface. A good tool for this is Wikipedia. Once i am stuck on a subject which interests me or it is aligned to my career I go on reading about the same in depths. I make my unique triangle.

All in all reading is the key.