Steve writes: “Reminds me of the (in)famous Robert Heinlein quote so (s?)favored by Libertarians and other strong Individualists: 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.
Life has finite length and the rate of learning is finite. Individuals aren’t going to learn how to do everything. It isn’t even helpful to write down a list of `everything’ and say go learn that. Because it just insults the vastness of everything, and assumes that collectively we see even a little of it. Why not throw “become a world class violinist” or “become the top cited researcher in string theory” or “break the two hour barrier on the marathon” into the mix too? Marcus
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