81–90 of 133 posts
Being a generalist by nature makes it very hard to build a successful career. I'm a generalist and what I see is the society is built around specialization.
On my case it helped quite a few times to jump between projects, or to be person that customer would like to ask to jump at an existing issue.
Being a generalist by nature makes it very hard to build a successful career. I'm a generalist and what I see is the society is built around specialization.
Personally I think being a generalist is ironically is effectively the same niche as yet another specialization. It sounds nonsensical and contradictory at first glance but makes some sense. If you are able to do everything equally well you will likely be out-competed in any given field by specialists (barring say a generally applicable approach flat out being better like an engineer designing tools which can outperf…
“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 Heinlein
Have you ever tried to plan an invasion? Like, actually done a net assessment of a scenario in detail accounting for terrain, equipment, training, intelligence, logistics, and all the other things that go into a military encounter? It is time-consuming and hard. So is efficiently butchering a hog. So is learning to program well. Changing diapers and pitching manure? Not so much. Dying gallantly? Only get to practice…
For the generalist not in a position of power, the dynamic is really different, people won’t hire you to read a book or increase your knowledge on something else during office hours, either you have to be independently wealthy or use family time.
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I mean... good luck finding a system of self organization for seven billion people which doesn't involve people trying to better their situation in some way? I mean I appreciate the sentiment, but 'the economy' might also be what's needed to tip us towards renewables (as people will want cheaper energy, and jobs making it possible). And can it really be neurotic when it's the culmination of seven billion individuals…
I'm quite happy to admit (it's kind of self-evident) that criticism is easier than building. It's a known known now that our economy does end in catastrophe - the collapse of ecosystems (on which all life, ours included, depend) is happening apace, is entirely well-documented, and barely starts to be addressed by shifts to renewables. That's mostly limited to power generation, and in any case climate collapse is only…
what?
Being a generalist by nature makes it very hard to build a successful career. I'm a generalist and what I see is the society is built around specialization.
Personally I think being a generalist is ironically is effectively the same niche as yet another specialization. It sounds nonsensical and contradictory at first glance but makes some sense. If you are able to do everything equally well you will likely be out-competed in any given field by specialists (barring say a generally applicable approach flat out being better like an engineer designing tools which can outperf…
Which is why, sadly, most polymaths within tech end up getting stuck at tech support.
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I like how when Richard Feynman's IQ test score doesn't conform to some narrative, HN is in contortions with excuses why the test doesn't matter, but when we come around to the topic of white IQ supremacy, suddenly HN is armed to the teeth with factoids about how g-loaded and circumstantially neutral the mainstream IQ tests are.
Thomas, were the same folks making these comments?
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I know this is true from my own experience.
me too, so I just tell people that I know node.js :/
You likely can pick up node.js baseline knowledge in a week.
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> Look, this essay is ridiculous. It starts by citing Aristotle, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Benjamin Franklin, and then delivers silly things like this definition of a "generalist": >> Someone who becomes competent in at least three diverse domains and integrates them into a top 1-percent skill set. If you take this advice and tone it down a lot, it becomes both reasonable and good. From Scott Adam's Career Advice [0]: >…
Thing is, it doesn't seem to pay, at least in the employment market. Employers want specialists, and pay for them. If your CV is two or three distinct things (I don't mean a selection of languages, or front and back end dev here, I mean distinct skills like say programming and accountancy) it's very unlikely to get you a better salary. In fact if you've diverged from a straight specialism throughout your career it's…
Look, this essay is ridiculous. It starts by citing Aristotle, Leonardo Da Vinci, and Benjamin Franklin, and then delivers silly things like this definition of a "generalist": > Someone who becomes competent in at least three diverse domains and integrates them into a top 1-percent skill set. Then proceeds with: > Despite the world’s immense need for polymaths, these individuals seem to be quite rare. That’s because…
Feynman is kinda the counter argument though — I think his IQ was 120ish. Obviously very smart, but his unique insights seem to have come more from a broad base of knowledge and an intensely curious personality vs raw brain power. I don’t think you need to be a genius to make an impact in a lot of fields.