Useless knowledge ?

 Sometimes you learn things, and then wonder what the value of that knowledge is. Happens to me all the time. Take yesterday for instance, I was working on the family tree and stumbled across a few tidbits of history. These items hold interest only for myself I believe. They are facts or suppositions about my ancestors. A fact is my great great grandfather built his house in 1894. That house still stands there on the corner of Floyd street and the Springs Fireplace Road. When the house was built Floyd street didn't have a name, it was just a dirt lane. My great grandfather lived in that house when I was growing up, his name was Floyd. I suppose that is how that street got named. It was Floyds' street. An interesting bit of trivia. But it is supposition and should not be taken as fact. It is a probably. Another " discovery " I made concerns another place name. It is a cemetery. I've always known it as the round swamp cemetery Turns out the old folks called it the Lester cemetery. There is a farm at Round Swamp, has been for generations. The Lesters own it. So it would be natural enough for it to be called the Lester cemetery at Round Swamp. Things is, there are several Lester families that have been in town for many generations and not necessarily related to one another. My great grand aunt Rose is buried there. She was a Terry, it was her Aunt Lucy who married a Lester. You got it, Floyd Lester, but he is not related to the round swamp lesters. And that begs the question, of what use is all this knowledge ? Not much I'm guessing, except to provide a little entertainment. At least it is entertaining to me.
 The big question is all of this is, what difference does it make ? Is this of any value at all ? I have been asked that and have no answer. I spend time and money uncovering information like this. A lot of time. To what purpose ? Should everything we do have a purpose ? Given the limited amount of time we have here on this earth one would certainly think so. Wasting time is just wrong, isn't it ? Finding answers to questions that no longer matter could be taken that way. I confess that it is something I enjoy, this finding of answers. Maybe it is because I will have answers that others may not. That gives me a sense of power. I do like having the answers. That could be it, just having knowledge that others can not easily refute. I just may have gained some insight there. Is that the draw for me ? Yes, it is. That is the truth of it all. Is it wrong ? No, I don't think so, it is just a part of my personality. So there it is, all laid out on the table. No knowledge is useless, this knowledge taught me about myself ! In a larger sense I believe that is the purpose of  knowledge, to learn about ourselves. The sharing of that knowledge, is the sharing of ourselves. Or it could be as simple as having a neutral topic. Something I can talk about without dispute. You don't know, and you don't care, so the topic is neutral. Something more than talking about the weather.