It has long been a hot topic for debate : should we aim at becoming an expert in one particular field or it is better to acquire knowledge across the board on many subjects, a.k.a, become a generalist? I think the primary trend of this information-overloading age indicates the need of more professionals who concentrate on one small spot area of expertise, since there is an explosion of knowledge which gets divided into finer domains. Yet the two options are not always mutually exclusive but the rising number of interdisciplinary fields calls for cross-field expertise. In addition, depending on which stage of career or education you are in, either direction can be the optimal path.
In the old times knowledge gurus like Aristotle , Plato or Da Vinci often possessed outstanding insight in multiple fields across philosophy, mathematics and arts. Primary and secondary school teachers were commissioned to teach a baseket of academic subjects, from math to English literature, to even Physical Education. However, as time witnesses the leaping forward of science and technology, knowledge abounds and even explodes in each traditional discpline, making up an expanded and higher-resolution picture with each old point now becoming a pocket of points . Henceforth, no one can claim owning the energy and talent required to dig both wide and deep , while a conglomerate of mere superficial understanding or basic capability in each of many fields does not prepare you enough for any specific skill position. In a sense, we have to choose our focus area, as our time is limited but the skills demanded for any career requires intensive study and training.
Having admitted the necessary trade-off between broadness and specialization, we need to see that as knowledge expands and deepens, different domains of knowledge tend to interweave , forming much more intricate and complicated boundaries. That means, a proficient understanding of any subject has to be built upon a solid and wider base of many subjects. To give an example, a behavioral economist has to be versed in each of social psychology, politics and statistics to a certain extent, and an environmental planner's academic foundation will be sprawling far into civil engineering, landscape design, policy making and human behavioral science.
The stage of personal development also plays a large part in whether we should go deep or broad. For a student, he is expected to master basic concepts and principles in all common areas before he opts for a major. Especially, the younger he is, the wider a spectrum he needs to be educated on. But a mature academician will be focusing much of his time researching for a handful of very specific questions.
To put it more generally, specialization in one particular field is the main current of the age- we should all consider picking a specific major and be devoted to it. But foundational knowledge of all basic subjects is a prerequisite for specific expertise, while cross-discipline understanding and insight further one's advancement in certain domains. We might conclude on the note of having specialization as a spearhead driven by a thick and broad trunk of background knowledge.
