RE: The Jack of All Trades is Master of One
I’ve watched full semesters’ worth of lectures online - it’s just amazing what’s possible today for earnest students of life, or any particular field.
This article was inspired by a recognition of the fact that in my own studies I’m finding there are certain things that are impossible to fully understand without supporting knowledge from various diverse fields.
For example, study in politics + psychology + philosophy will yield understanding inaccessible to the focused student of any one of these alone.
The culture raises up masters and puts them on a pedestal, regardless of whether these people have balance in their lives. A man like Leonardo would certainly be considered a master of visual art, but he was motivated by an unquenchable thirst for knowledge in all fields. One need not obviate the other. If a choice must be made, broad shallow knowledge will surpass single-pointed mastery because the sum of its parts is exceeded by what correlation yields.
Wisdom (the application of keen discernment) requires broad understanding. A web catches more than a rope.
Yes, I agree!! I studied IT in Management which back then, one might not think much of it because it is a generic degree that doesn't dwell deep into a specific area and provides an overview to the different areas. But today, when I think about it, thanks to the the degree, I was exposed to programming, accounting, finance, business admin, HR and the different aspects of thinking and learning which I am able to apply in my life today.
Awesome. I studied philosophy, and as broad and deep as that is, it still was not sufficient to yield the understanding I gained after investigating spiritual matters and world political systems, etc. There are blind spots in any field, and when investigating diverse fields I find that they are front-loaded; meaning that the focused study of introductory material provides the most bang for the buck, and further study provides diminishing returns. Study of ABC 101, JKL 101, and XYZ 101 will effect a more lucid overall perspective than study of ABC 101, 102, and 103. That's not to say there's no value in advancement, but you gain quite a bit by just opening a new door and looking into the foyer.
I feel sorry not having seen your article earlier on. So I am just jumping in here.
Thank you - I am counting Rding!! - imagine this Quentin Tarrantino clockwork in "From dusk till dawn" how many people were already shot dead. But in this case I count how many people say what you said. There is hope! Lots of it. :)
Education? Here we have this situation: education you can receive - kind of a solid foundation you get. Not particularly bad and not particularly good but solid. All what else follows is up to the student. I never visited university and I think the OECD standard sucks mostly. But what we've got is free access to education and mostly zero costs plus the Internet and many if not thousand opportunities to study online. This is of course much harder, much more time consuming and less structured and once in a while a tutor would be good. Or an adviser to challenge the student with questions and an interested and engaged attitude.
Now, once having the insight what kind of online teacher would one be, where to get the students from and how to receive payment and stuff, it becomes interesting, no?
I think you would be a great tutor to a student who wants to study, no matter what faculty. As you mention it is good to stretch the field and to dig into disciplines which do not meet the faculty. Do you know the online platform "Udemy"?