In my life long search for knowledge and learning I have watched an untold number of documentaries, read so many academic and analytical articles on so many different topics that I can't even guess how many. For the first half of my life it was done strictly for the sake of knowledge, generally choosing topics that held great interest for me.
However, in the last 21 years many of them have covered subjects that I really had little interest in. Such as Neanderthal man and crocodilians just to name two, and more recently politics and now BEER. Why would I throw myself into learning about things that held no real interest for me?
The answer, I became the mother of a gifted child. A child that at age two already showed a strong interest in history and anthropology and expressed himself with the vocabulary of a seven or eight year old. To keep his mind stimulated we watched and read a wide verity of materials. By four he was well on his way to learning the fine art of debate and I his mother was his favorite oppugnant. As you can guess my only chance for survival was to make sure I was well read on the topics he zoned in on.
After receiving a BS in history and minoring in Latin and political science he has obviously surpassed my knowledge in those areas by leaps and bounds but this old lady can't give in. So last week I found myself watching a 43 minute documentary called "How beer Saved the World".
I went into it thinking it was going to be a big joke, more of a made for fun fictional short film. I knew of course that beer or ale has been around since the beginning of recorded civilization, but to claim a major role in the progression of civilization, this to me was a major stretch.
Once again my son has been instrumental in encouraging me to expand my knowledge base. The documentary, while presented in a playful style, turned out to contain some rather interesting information and raise some rather compelling theories. Of course I find some of them a bit exaggerated but do see the possibility that beer or ale has played a larger role in civilization than I previously considered.
As my search for knowledge continues I will add this information to my ever expanding mental database. However, I still refuse to drink that nasty beer.
