tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2094060386023968232.post8864833900552957473..comments2014-06-14T17:34:33.042-07:00Comments on In a Nutshell...: And Now For Something Completely DifferentBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13006816024361559015noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2094060386023968232.post-60228147409845780142009-03-18T11:46:00.000-07:002009-03-18T11:46:00.000-07:00I'm also a bit of a generalist, mostly because I d...I'm also a bit of a generalist, mostly because I don't invest the time in any one thing to "master" it because of my attention span and partially because I find myself drawn in too many directions to limit myself.<BR/><BR/>Generations ago a man was expected to know how to cook, garden, tend cattle, shoot with skill, stitch a wound ad nauseam. With the advent of modern inventions which "ease" life we've drifted away from that since it's no longer necessity. I'll tell you this though, in the event of global disaster only the generalists will survive with anything like comfort.<BR/><BR/>I believe it's a great disservice to ourselves as a people to have deprived ourselves of so much "skill".P.Proteus1035https://www.blogger.com/profile/15210603080480051016noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2094060386023968232.post-24706525004835471882009-03-17T06:37:00.000-07:002009-03-17T06:37:00.000-07:00You've hit upon one of my biggest pet peeves. I a...You've hit upon one of my biggest pet peeves. I actually think that specialization is the death of creativity and intellectualism. If I were hiring people, I would be looking for the applicants who can, as you say, fit the pieces together. Someone who can relate concepts that, while outside the particular field in which they're working, are still relevant to the problem at hand. Academically speaking, I feel that the study of history is empty without also studying religion, philosophy, and the arts. The arts can barely be understood without studying history and in some areas also religion (just try and understand medieval European art without knowing much about Christianity...) In fact, I think it's specialization that's responsible for the blatantly false assumptions that people make about things. As they say, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, and if you only ever read Arthurian romance you might well think that the middle ages was really like that. Not necessarily the monsters and fantasy aspects, but the chivalry and the glamor. And then wouldn't it come as quite a blow to find out that knights were more like the thugs we see on The Sopranos than the heroes we see in stories? Without a sense of context, all the study in the world can end up being more damaging than helpful.Pocket Sizehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17517324738043562937noreply@blogger.com