The Meaning of Trivia and Horizontal Knowledge

I like to know things. I like to pick up any piece of data or information that flies by my ear. I would use any opportunity to put another file into that almighty library that is our brain. I shove in there all shapes and sizes of bits and bytes. I'm a trivia collector, I guess.

But what good is it in the end? Does it really serve any serious purpose? The only meaningful application I can see is if you win the "I want to be a millionaire" programme or the like. But apart from that there's no real reason for it - it's more like an addiction than anything else. It's what I call "horizontal" knowledge.

The internet is full of horizontal knowledge - tons and tons of trivia posted by so many addicted knowledge seekers. Wikipedia, blogs, websites, it's all out there. Yet I think behind all this trivia search there's a more hidden yearning - that of "vertical" knowledge - information that would go into the heart of things and give meaning to our lives.