Being obtuse can be fun. The easiest way to an advanced degree is to become "the expert" in a totally obscure specialty. Nobody else knows ( or wants to) what you are talking about. I used to bluff my fellow undergraduates by bringing an endless supply of BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY editions stuffed with notes to class. Considering they had dogeared copies of Castaneda ,my proffs were impressed ( until the term paper lol)