Knowledge is the Easy Part

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A typical college senior has spent 86% of their life enrolled in school. Most of what’s learned in those classrooms will fade. We keep a few things: grammar, arithmetic, and of course, the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell. But give me my 11th-grade biology final and I’d surely fail it.

This isn’t just about the schooling system. Say your summer lifeguarding job requires CPR certification. You give perfect CPR to a dummy then earn a certificate. August arrives and you find yourself in a situation where a real person needs CPR. It’s been six months since the class and the steps are hazy. Is it 30 compressions per set? Or 20?

We can’t expect to remember everything. I know I learned something about SOHCAHTOA in Geometry class, but now it’s nothing more than an acronym floating around in my head. And best believe I’m going to forget the definition of “alacrity” that I learned for SAT prep.

You’ll often hear students say, “Why are we learning this if we can look it up in two seconds?” Retrieving facts is a breeze when everyone has a supercomputer in their pocket.

A common defense for the newfound uselessness of this stuff is, “You’re learning how to learn”. That’s fair. Learning how to use your brain seems important. But I think something is missed when the process is purely knowledge-seeking.

There’s a famous quote that I believe extends to how we remember most things:

I don’t remember how to play Bach’s Minuet in G on the piano, despite perfecting it. I do remember how amusing it was to make loud noises with the slightest stroke of my fingers.

I don’t remember the address of my best friend’s house, despite spending seemingly half of my childhood there. I do remember how exciting it was to walk up the front steps of that house, knowing an entire day of fun was ahead.

I don’t remember how to read Latin, despite translating endless Ancient Roman letters in high school. I do remember how fascinating it was to expose my mind to an ancient culture.

Amusement, excitement, and fascination never showed up on an exam, nor were they assigned to me. I never spent much time synthesizing the feelings—whether that was through discussion, note-taking, or just thinking. Yet my brain kept them over the facts.

I’m going to guess that in recalling your memories, your brain probably shows snippets resembling Live Photos on the iPhone. Maybe the context has faded: your shirt color, the weather, what was said, and if you were 13 or 15. But the feelings are crystal clear. You probably don’t question whether you felt confident or scared, cheerful or sad, satisfied or regretful.

Beyond emotions, it’s hard to articulate the feeling associated with certain experiences—golden hour on the coast or clicking with someone on a first date—words wouldn’t do them justice. There’s an underlying essence. Powerful moments produce countless feelings and they're all tangled together, leaving you with an ineffable vibe.

The value is in the vibes

They sound flimsy and fleeting, but our brains tell us that vibes are more powerful than a bunch of facts.

Most people will solve this formula at some point in their life:

A = PMT((1 + r/n) ^ nt - 1) / (r/n)

Looks fun right? This is the annuity formula and it can be used to determine a monthly retirement savings contribution. Of course you don't actually need to remember the formula; you can just Google it. But figuring out how much to save for retirement is more complicated than the formula itself.

What does your ideal retirement life look like? And how much does it cost? If you don’t know, you’ll always want more. Once that’s determined, you should predict how long this ideal life will be. When do you plan to retire? How many years do you plan on living? You finally arrive at a realistic number. But all investments have varying levels of risk, so how do you account for that?

A simple equation quickly turns into a deep examination of not only your wallet but also your values and expectations. After all, your life isn’t a spreadsheet.

Yes, solving problems in the real world requires knowledge. But knowledge is cheap and easily obtained. Future retirees aren't doing just algebra or just philosophy or any one thing, but rather tying together lots of disparate ideas.

They may simply have a vague sense that retirement is achievable and enjoyable. Woven into those feelings are vibes like, “I can understand personal finance” and “I can control my future”. Knowledge is what follows.

Let me give you another example. My grandparents would watch me after school while my parents were at work. Every day, without fail, my grandpa watched CNBC’s market coverage. I’d arrive from school at 3 PM — just in time for Closing Bell. I would ask him why stocks were red or green. He called it keeping him honest.

Later in life, my grandpa got us into the New York Stock Exchange for a tour. The charts and tickers that we watched from his living room for so many years came alive, and we were standing in the heart of it. Despite having the pulse of the financial world at my fingertips, I can’t recall what the markets were doing that day.

All I really remember about those times in front of the television and in New York is how they made me feel about investing. My grandpa is no professional investor, but he has great vibes. How do I know? He made me love it. When that vibe is established, the knowledge takes care of itself.

It would be nice to have CPR performed by someone who memorized the steps. But better yet, by someone who has the desire to save your life with alacrity, and the confidence to take over and begin compressions. You won’t find these on the checklist. They are vibes, and we can only hope whoever is resuscitating has good ones.

- Sam