Do fewer things; do them better; know why you're doing them

Re:Do fewer things; do them better; know why you're doing them by thejteam on Friday December 09, 2011 @09:29AM (#3333773)

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

-Robert A. Heinlein

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Re:Do fewer things; do them better; know why you're doing them by gnaritas on Friday December 09, 2011 @12:30PM (#3334572)

He's wrong. If everyone were a generalist, we'd achieve very little as a species.

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Re:Do fewer things; do them better; know why you're doing them by delluminatus on Friday December 09, 2011 @08:08PM (#3336484)

None of his statemetns suggest that anyone should be a true generalist, but that people should not focus on a single field to the exclusion of even a basic understanding of the rest of human knowledge.

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Re:Do fewer things; do them better; know why you're doing them by gnaritas on Sunday December 11, 2011 @11:18AM (#3340282)

There comes a point where the breadth of human knowledge is so vast that's it's not possible to have even a basic understanding of it all; I believe we passed that point long ago. All men are necessarily ignorant about a great many things.

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