Hobbies, sure. But specialization comes with tools and learning that generalists don’t have, couldn’t possibly afford, and would be a ridiculous amount of things to store and knowledge to remember. E.g. I don’t want to do my own dentistry and I’d prefer an expert for that. Dentistry in the US requires a whole medical degree, specialized tools, etc. I also don’t own the equipment nor have the knowledge to find and drill a well if I want to be “self sufficient”.
You don’t have to be an expert, and that can be very freeing, but we do need them and becoming an expert has opportunity costs. That doesn’t mean experts are shallow or becoming a generalist is deep or morally better nor does it mean generalists are in any way insufficient.
Mindfulness. That’s what this all comes down to. Deliberately choosing how much time and energy you are going to invest in each path, depending on your specific goals and desires.
They way they have defined generalist in this discussion just says there is no such thing as a specialist because you cannot survive without learning a variety of things.
Basically this whole conversation is just saying that it is a spectrum, but both ends are impossible because of the nature of our existence. Thus we all exist as semi-specialized generalists. A realization that will shock noone.
Hobbies, sure. But specialization comes with tools and learning that generalists don’t have, couldn’t possibly afford, and would be a ridiculous amount of things to store and knowledge to remember. E.g. I don’t want to do my own dentistry and I’d prefer an expert for that. Dentistry in the US requires a whole medical degree, specialized tools, etc. I also don’t own the equipment nor have the knowledge to find and drill a well if I want to be “self sufficient”.
You don’t have to be an expert, and that can be very freeing, but we do need them and becoming an expert has opportunity costs. That doesn’t mean experts are shallow or becoming a generalist is deep or morally better nor does it mean generalists are in any way insufficient.
Mindfulness. That’s what this all comes down to. Deliberately choosing how much time and energy you are going to invest in each path, depending on your specific goals and desires.
They way they have defined generalist in this discussion just says there is no such thing as a specialist because you cannot survive without learning a variety of things.
Basically this whole conversation is just saying that it is a spectrum, but both ends are impossible because of the nature of our existence. Thus we all exist as semi-specialized generalists. A realization that will shock noone.