The Answer Is…: Reflections on My Life

by Alex Trebek

Somebody on staff just gave me a copy of National Geographic magazine from July of 1940, which is the month in which I was born. I’ve got it right here on my desk and have been leafing through it. One of the main articles is about the construction of the new National Gallery of Art in Washington. And the facade, the article says, is wider than the facade of the Capitol Building. So I thought, Boy, that’s interesting. That’s a pretty big building. I also learned that the dome of the National Gallery was modeled after the Pantheon in Rome. Now, am I ever going to use that knowledge? Probably not. But even if you are learning facts that you are not going to be able to use in your daily life, it enriches you—the fact itself just enriches you as a human being and broadens your outlook on life and makes you a more understanding and better person. And as Martha Stewart would say, “That’s a good thing.”