Networking: Others Increase your "You-ness"

              In Too Big to Know, Weinberger makes a compelling argument about the circumstances providing for intelligence. He says, "The smartest person in the room isn't the person standing at the front lecturing us, and it isn't the collective wisdom of those in the room. The smartest person in the room is the room itself: the network that joins the people and ideas in the room, and connects to those outside of it." By this it is clear that Weinberger realizes the importance of networking, the old cliche, "Its not what you know, its who you know." But I think this statement goes even deeper than that.

What it means in the least words possible, is that people always have and will need other people! As you sit there 
                                                 right now 
                                                            reading this, you are the accumulation of every single encounter, every conversation, every book you've read, everything you've watched and more, in some way. No one has ever gotten an education based on what one or two people said, so for your intelligence, you may thank everyone around you! Your whole life is a series of networking, whether you intend it to be or not. I think what Weinberger is also beginning to get to here is that people who make a conscious effort to continuously expand their network through meeting more people and experiencing more places tend to be most successful. Obviously building networks isn't always rainbows and butterflies, but I do believe there is something to be learned or taken away from every experience, something that adds to your "you-ness".