5 Basic Knowledge Everyone Should Have

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We've all met that eloquent guy who talks smoothly and with such grace that we involuntarily listen to him and fix our gaze on him. Or her. For me, it has usually been a "her". The issue most of them have is they know too much about talking smoothly and not so much about everything else. They lack some of what I call the 5 basic knowledge everyone should have.

image: healyourskinthebook.com

Everyone should be mathematically good as every Emeka or Obinna that runs a general merchandise business. You should be able to do basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and simple interest calculation. 
I have stopped being surprised when I discover a smooth talking fellow who is constantly having to be corrected mathematically.

You must be very fluent in (at least) one language -- Yoruba, English, Igbo, Hausa or your dialect. Be able to speak intelligently and without screaming and gesturing furiously when talking passionately in that language. Nothing is more annoying than having an argument with someone who is constantly supporting his limited vocabulary with loud shouts and furious hand gestures.

This is the main reason I stopped reading Nigerian newspapers and stopped watching Nigerian TV stations (including Channels TV). Whoever wants to give a suggestion on how to fix things in our nation should first make the little effort required to acquire sound knowledge of basic economic principles.
Principles of demand and supply that govern all our transactions.
Law of one price that states that you cannot forever profit from an unusual opportunity.
And a basic idea of how GDP is calculated. How a nation's wealth is determined. Which makes it clear that real wealth comes from putting our capital and labour to more efficient use and investing in technology to increase our total factor productivity.

We are humans and owe it to ourselves to have a sound knowledge of how our body works. The knowledge of our anatomy makes living a lot less stressful. You won't need the fear of diabetics or overweight to have a healthy lifestyle. You won't consistently feel like your body and mind are out of sync, like your body is lagging your mind.
And best of all, you won't be falling prey to less educated drug merchants who say unbelievable things to sell their drugs.

That there was a stone age. A knowledge of how our word has changed since creation.
A knowledge of the world history positively impacts every aspect of your life, especially your interactions with other people. It makes you a deeper thinker and usually more temperate. A lot less easy to deceive.

These are what I consider the basic knowledge everyone should have.
What do you think? Am I missing some other vital basic knowledge? Or do I need to prune my original list?


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