Unpredictable. Unfocused. Just like life.

George Santayana said "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." But what if you never learned a particular aspect of history?

Daimnation asked this question today:

When Clarkson refers to Wolfe and Montcalm, I wonder how many Canadians under 30 know what he's talking about?

While I can't remember the specifics of Wolfe and Montcalm, I do recall having learnedthat piece of Canadian history in school as a kid. Yet a good friend of mine a couple of years younger than me told me that she didn't learn Canadian history when she was in elementary school. How can that be?

Now Canadian history is nothing like American history. We have no Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, or Lincoln. In fact, we have no standout kind of leaders as I recall. There was no revolution. Canadians apparently don't go in for those displays of strength. We mostly plod along, eventually getting to the same point, but without the violence.

As my mom always says, the British won the battle on the Plains of Abraham, then shook hands with the French and everything went right back the way it was.

So really, if you don't learn this kind of stuff in school, where do you learn it? I'll occasionally pick up a book on someone like Benjamin Franklin, but what of the 58% or so of people who haven't read a book since high school?

Do we need a History Rock (you remember Multiplication Rock, right) for adults?