Inthiseraofrapidsocialandtechnologicalchangeleadingtoincreasinglifecomplexityandpsychologicaldisplacement,bothpositiveandnegativeeffectsamongpersonsinWesternsocietycallforabalanceinwhichtherearebothspecialistsandgeneralists.
Specialistsarenecessaryinordertoallowsocietyasawholetoproperlyandusefullyassimilatethemassesofnewinformationandknowledgethathavecomeoutofresearchandhavebeenwidelydisseminatedthroughmassglobalmedia.AstheheadofPharmacologyatmyuniversityoncesaid(andIparaphrase):"IcanonlyresearchwhatIdobecausetherearesomanywhohavecomebeforemetowhomIcanturnforbasicknowledge.Itisonlybecauseofeachofthenarrowlyfocussedindividualsateachstepthatafullandtrueunderstandingofthecomplexitiesoflifecanbehad.Eachpersoncanonlyholdenoughknowledgetoaddonesmallrungtotheladder,buttogetherwecanclimbtothemoon."Thisillustratesthepointthatoursocietieslevelofknowledgeandtechnologyisatastageinwhichtheresimplymustbespecialistsinorderforoursocietytotakeadvantageoftheinformationavailabletous.
Simplyput,withoutspecialists,oursocietywouldfinditselfboggeddownintheSargassoseaofinformationoverload.Whileitwasfineforearlyphysiciststolearnandunderstandthefewlawsandideasthatexistedduringtheirtimes,now,nooneindividualcanpossiblydigestandassimilatealloftheknowledgeinanygivenarea.
Ontheotherhand,Overspecializationmeansnarrowfociiinwhichpeoplecanlosethelargerpicture.Noonecanhopetounderstandthehumanbodybyonlyinspectingone’sowntoe-nails.Whatwelearnfromanarrowfocusmaybeinternallylogicallycoherentbutmaybeirrelevantorfallaciouswithintheframeworkofabroaderperspective.Further,ifweinspectonlyourtoe-nails,wemayconcludethatthewholebodyishardandwhite.Usefulconclusionsandthusperhapsusefulinventionsmustcomebysharingamongspecialists.Simplythrowingoutvariousdiscoveriesmeanswehaveapileofuselessdiscoveries,itisonlywhenonecanmakewiththemamosaicthatwecanseethattheymayformapicture. wｗw.ExamＷ.CoM
Notonlymayover-specializationbedangerousintermsofthetruth,purityandcohesionofknowledge,butitcanalsoservetodrownmoraloruniversalissues.Generalistsandonlygeneralistscanseeabroadenoughpicturetorealizeandintroducetotheworldtheproblemsoftheenvironment.Withspecialization,eachpersonfocussesontheirresearchandtheirgoals.Thus,industrialization,expansion,andnewtechnologiesaredrivenahead.Meanwhilenoindividualcanseethewholisitcviewofourglobalexistenceinwhichtrueadvancementmaymeanstiflingindividualspecialistsforthegreatergoodofall.
Finally,over-specializationinapeople’sdailylivesandjobshasmeantpersonalandpsychologicalcompartmentalization.Peopleareforcedintopigeonholesearlyinlife(atleastbyuniversity)andmustconsciouslyattempttoconsumeexternalformsofstimuliandinformationinordernottobelostintheirsmallandisolateduniverse.Notonlydoesthismakefornarrowlyfocussedandgenerallypoorly-educatedindividuals,butitguaranteesasenseoflossofcommunity,oftenfollowedbyafeelingofpsychologicaldisplacementandpersonaldissatisfaction.
Withoutgeneralists,societybecomesinward-lookingandeventuallyinefficient.Withoutasocietythatrecognizestheimportanceofbroad-mindednessandforaaforsharinggeneralities,individualsbecomeisolated.Thus,whileourformofsocietynecessitatesspecialists,generalistsareequallyimportant.Specialistsdriveusforwardinaseriesofthrustswhilegeneralistsmakesurewearestillonthejoustingfieldandknowwhatthestakesare.
ReaderComment
Thisoutstandingresponsedisplaysinsightfulanalysis,meticulousdevelopment,impressivevocabularyandamasteryoftheelementsofeffectivewriting.Thewriterdisagreeswiththestatedopinionsbyarguingthatspecialistsandgeneralistsarebothvital:specialistspreventusfrombecoming"boggeddownintheSargassoseaofinformationoverload,"whilegeneralistsprovidehelptosee"thebigpicture"and,unlikespecialists,protectour"greatergood."
Theessayiscarefullyconstructedthroughout,enablingthereadertomoveeffortlesslyfrompointtopointasthewriterexaminesthemulti-facetedimplicationsoftheissueandprovidescompellingreasonsandexamplestosupportthepremiseandtaketheargumenttoaneffectiveconclusion.Althoughother"6"responsesmaynotbeaseloquentasthisessay,theyneverthelessalldisplaythetesttaker’sabilitytoarticulatecomplexideaseffectivelyandprecisely.
