The Post-Partisan Emporium

Science vs. Joinence Fragmentation of knowledge has gotten us into a mess; unifying it might get us out. John Carter One of the first things that comes to mind when we think about science is the dizzying array of specialities into which it is divided: physics, chemistry, astronomy, geology, biology, sociology, psychology, etc. Any given field is itself sub-divided into myriad sub-disciplines: physics, for instance, into classical mechanics, thermodynamics, hydrodynamics, quantum mechanics, nuclear physics, particle physics, astrophysics, cosmology, optics, general relativity, statistical mechanics, and so on. Each sub-discipline is then further sub-sub-divided: astrophysics, for example, being separated into stellar astrophysics, planetary science, nebular astronomy, supernovae, exoplanets, stellar populations, extragalactic astronomy, and cosmology. The pattern of differentiation then continues to further sub-sub-sub-divisions: to take extragalactic astronomy, we can separate it out i...

The racket of education and the myth of expertise The managerial aristocracy and you laughlyn (johan eddebo) 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, analyse a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects (Robert Heinlein,  Time Enough for Love , 1973). So I’m an expert. I’m in the “top of my field”, which means that I know a good bit of assorted stuff concerning my academic specialty, and that I can solve new problems relating to the the discipline better than most. (Yes, it also means I’m a little batty.) And I guarantee that you’ll be quite hard pressed to find one single ten-year old kid who can’t put me on the spot with a couple of clever questions. Questions which at least would ...