Toward Ecosophy

Talking with people I know who are into occultism, I’ve seen a weird pattern emerge in the past few months: a lot of people who claim to be into magic and the occult also claim to basically never read books and often lack anything approaching a full liberal arts education. This has struck me every time I’ve heard it as truly bizarre. I'm heavily informed by Dion Fortune, who writes in _The Training and Work of the Initiate_: "The good occult student should have a sound general knowledge of natural science, history, mathematics and philosophy," and goes on to explain that in order to successfully undertake esoteric studies one benefits from a good grounding in the exoteric. All of that said, I like to keep my snobbery closely in check and I value open-mindedness and flexibility. What’s your opinion on the degree of importance for aspiring occultists having or attaining a broad base of general knowledge?