>[!abstract] >In academia, specialization [...] may refer to a course of study or major at an academic institution, or may refer to the field in which a specialist practices [...] It is considered a precondition of objective truth and works by restricting the mind's propensity for eclecticism through methodological rigor and studious effort. It is also employed as an information-management strategy, which operates by fragmenting an issue into different fields or areas of expertise to obtain truth. ("Specialization", 2025). >[!quote] >COVID for me was the "come to Jesus moment" of reckoning with excessive specialization. Because what happened with COVID — it was a virus, right? It becomes an immunological problem, that becomes an epidemiological problem, which becomes a transport problem, which becomes an economic problem, which becomes a human well-being and professional problem, which becomes a school problem, etc. So, what happened during the course of the pandemic is that our sensibilities matured in understanding that what we are dealing with here was a complex system. There were other dimensions to this problem that were being neglected precisely because we were not reckoning with the interconnectedness of the system. So it's not just that it's the neglect, it's actually pathologically dangerous for the well-being of the planet that we do this kind of atomization all the time at the level of the disciplines. (The Well, 2023). >[!quote] >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. (Heinlein, 1973). >[!quote] >Any specialty, if important, is too important to be left to the specialists. After all, the specialist cannot function unless he concentrates more or less entirely on his specialty and, in doing so, he will ignore the vast universe lying outside and miss important elements that ought to help guide his judgment. He therefore needs the help of the nonspecialist, who, while relying on the specialist for key information, can yet supply the necessary judgment based on everything else… Science, therefore, has become too important to be left to the scientists. (Asimov, 1983). ## References - Asimov, I. (1983). *The Roving Mind*. Prometheus Books. - Heinlein, R. A. (1973). *Time enough for love*. G.P. Putnam's Sons. - Specialization. (2025, January 1). In *Wikipedia*. https://youtu.be/3KeqjT2xyM0 - The Well. (2023, December 28). Inside a real genius club: the Santa Fe Institute. *YouTube*. https://bigthink.com/the-well/dispatches-podcast-episode-3/ ## Related - [[Complexity]]