U-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan might have been a running joke for Herman Cain,
but sometimes I think that of all the GOP running candidates, or well,
ex-candidates, Herman Cain is one of those few who are actually rooted
in reality.

On Monday’s The Daily Show, Herman Cain was asked once again, this
time by John Oliver, who the president of Ubekistan was. Herman Cain,
much to the surprise of John Oliver, professed that he still didn’t
know. He then added that it would be a waste of time for him memorize
the names of all the heads of states, and he’s got a point. Why should
he when he can just look it up?

You know how in some exams, your score basically boils down to how
much you can memorize and dump word for word on the script? I just had
one such paper today. In the midst of studying for it, Herman Cain’s
interview came to mind.

There’s no reason we should be mocking him for that. Much like
memorizing all the names of states, exams that rely on one’s ability
to memorize information are becoming irrelevant in the age of Google,
unless your goal is to win trivia games. In fact, we might just as
well laugh at someone who spends their time memorizing such
information because of their lack of ability to make use of existing
resources.

It’s no longer about what you know, but whether you know where to find
the answers to what you don’t know.