My pop culture education update

Ok, so I have been squeezing more and more pop culture education into my head. I'm starting to become concerned that all these things I find useful and interesting will fall out of my head in an attempt to squeeze all these popular (as deemed by 'society') things in. What if for example:

• I suddenly stop loving Shostakovich and wanting to have his theme tattooed across my body (his name means much more to me than my own does. Even thinking of his music and what it means to me conjures  up such emotion that encompasses so many things in my life, right from back when I was around 16 and played his music for the first time) to instead spend my time shouting 'Get to the chopper' to my friends.
• My practice of Nicherin Buddhism keeps me on the straight and narrow. I'm not into the whole wishy washy thing of religion, it's not my cup of tea. I like Nicherin Buddhism as it teaches that I am responsible for my life, there is no external being out there deciding how my life will go and that if I want to achieve something then I have to pull my finger out and go and do it. Think of Buddhism as one of those Americal motivational speakers but without being irritating.  What if I gave all this up to start spending lots of time blogging about fashion? What if I spent all my free time seeing what was new on the catwalk (I thought I'd never see that sentence come out of my own fingertips) and traipsing round the high street trying to find the latest styles at budget prices. What if one of life's big dilemmas was 'should I risk wearing this *insert clothing item here* out tonight in case *insert name of friend here* is wearing it'.
• What if I suddenly forgot how to have a reasoned debate? What if my ability to concisely and effectively convey my point and reasoning fell out of my head one day and I somehow I became able to remember all the films that Arnold Schwarznegger had been in? What if I could name them chronologically and include the name of the character he played in the film? Would this be a good thing?

I guess the conclusion that I'm coming to is that pop culture isn't something that people need, it's not like a part of me is missing because I don't know these things. As a grown woman, I'm gently chided by some friends for not knowing these things but I never feel that I've been missing out as a child and that I've been living under a rock for the last 26 and a bit years. It's superfluous, is pop culture. It's not something that we need to make us good, rounded human beings. Some of my friends seem to think that pop culture does make us rounded human beings, I disagree. I believe that there are far more important things that make us 'human beings'. Empathy, courage, conviction, resilience, passion and a desire to improve ourselves are all much important elements than being able to quote every line from Wayne's World 2.