Rambling ...

I often find myself wishing I were a little smarter. I love to read books that expand my mind -- ones that challenge me to really pay attention to what I'm reading -- because it makes me *feel* smarter. For example, I bought myself a copy of Steven Pinker's "THE BLANK SLATE". Much as I've not read it yet, I've read bits of it, and a lot of it goes over my head. But, I like that as I feel like maybe I'll be able to hold more intelligent conversations for having read it.
I like to have "lofty" conversations, too, as it makes me feel profound and intelligent. I think that that's one of the things that drew me to my husband back when we were dating. He's very intelligent, and tends to ramble on about things that are -- more often than not -- over my head. But, to have conversations like that with him, even if I don't understand everything, makes me feel like I'm important. Is that silly? Maybe so. Maybe I'm making a fool of myself by admitting this all here. LOL. But, it is what it is.
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I was having a discussion with a friend, on the weekend, about Christianity and religions. He was telling me about the history of the Southern Baptists, and about the start of some things in Canadian history. I sat there wishing that I was more knowledgeable about things like that, because I really don't know anything about that sort of thing. I really don't have a lot of interest in history -- never have -- so that kind of thing is beyond me. People can talk about it, but I have nothing to contribute to the conversation. That frustrates me. I try to read about stuff like that, and then I end up getting soooo bored because history isn't my thing. :o? And, it's not as if the conversation with my friend bored me! Far from it -- I was fascinated! But, I just can't seem to *read* on the subject without getting bored.
:-/
I wonder if there's another, more interesting way to learn about the history of things without having to immerse myself in books that bore me to tears? Any suggestions?