The irony of being the most intelligent being on the planet

I am writing this from San Jose Public Library and as usual i am overawed by the amount of knowledge that human being has amassed. And watching all this reading some covers, I begin to feel so insignificant. It is an irony that even being the most intelligent race/ species on the planet does not allow us to know everything there is to know. There is just enough time on hand within a life time that a normal person will know one or at the max two subject matter in details. There is no way he will be able to know more than this.

Especially so in today's world where we spend around 20 years of our life ( around 1/4th assuming an average life of 80 years) trying to learn what one subject area. the next 20 years goes in converting the theoritical knowledge to practice and validating the same, learning that at times what we learnt might not be the same in partical life and try to earn a living, get caught in the mundane activities in life.

For some smart individuals, in next 20 years he/she will be able to crystallize the learnings from Theory and Practice to come up with new directions or new insights in that subject area( mind you are restricted to one area alone).

Will I ever get a chance to know more about the knowledge amassed within a lifetime. Are we running behind thoughtless acts through our life without thinking of adding back to this vast knowledge. Will my thoughts be footprints in sand or etched in rock or can be eternal like some of our works.... thinking thru.......