Knowing most of the things people know does you no good "unless".... ;-)

But it's all part of developing a certain degree of cultural awareness which is a good thing for a human being to have, wouldn't you say?

You don't NEED to know that:

the Earth rotates around the sun
the moon is a long way away
clipper ships had a lot of sails
a sperm whale has a long jaw
there's no air in space
the ocean is very deep and it's dark down there at the bottom
Indian elephants are different from African elephants
an ape is not a monkey
an elk isn't a kind of lizard
the Chinese invented gunpowder

And so on, ad infinitum...

But if you DON'T know a certain amount of this basic stuff about the world, aren't you in a position to become more vulnerable to unscrupulous leadership...and aren't you far less capable of making any kind of intelligent decision when one is required?