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Friday, July 22nd 2022 - On Intelligence and Specialization
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An interesting conversation this morning over coffee has me thinking.
What are the merits of general, broadly-applied intelligence over
highly specialized, trained intelligence?
To put it plainly, why are so many blue-collar workers with supposedly
inferior intelligence operating on such a high level as opposed to
specialists? Why can I find gas station workers who are chess masters,
but my fellow software developer can't figure out how to make a shower
head work and has to call hotel staff?
I think we, as a society, put a lot of impetus on higher education and
trained skills. We value them more because they contribute to societies
bottom dollar in a more visible way than your humble Chili's waiter.
But this isn't the reflection of intelligence we pretend it is. If
someone is highly specialized, they can operate at 200% capacity in
regards to their chosen subject, but the day-to-day gets left behind
and they will turn into a moron.
It's too bad that we ignore true intelligence and give it no merit
in the face of specialized intelligence. But specialized intelligence
can be accomplished by anyone with enough free time and a willingness
to grind. It's not "special". It is the fruit of labor. As opposed
to real intelligence which can be applied to day-to-day events and
elevate one in life.
One might argue then, that it is better to have both. But I have begun
to think that's impossible. When you specialize your field of study
you fill your brain up with one subject and it begins to remap old
neaural pathways to shortcut to the new information -because you are
literally training your brain to do so-. You lose your ability to
think critically about normal day-to-day subjects. Your field, then,
is your life.
