The increase in knowledge is forcing people to specialize. As a result, the distance between fields of specialization has become so vast that specialists in different areas are rarely able to influence each other.

The issue is based on a topic that raises several related questions like what does it mean to be a generalist or a specialist and how they are related? And whether we need more specialists or generalists.

In earlier times, there were very few specialists. Graduation degree was considered all in all. Architects, doctors, engineers, all were considered masters in their fields merely on the basis of graduation degrees. We have examples of many successful persons who did not have any suitable degree in their fields; still they managed to be successful. For example, Shakespeare was a great writer, whose works we read at schools and colleges but he did not have any formal degree in literature. Similar is the case of Dhirubhai Ambani who is the name behind the success of India’s largest private sector company, Reliance India Limited. He was not even a graduate.

However, scenarios have changed today. Post graduation is common today in every field. More and more people prefer to go for their post graduation and even further. They want to keep pace with the growing radius of knowledge. With the astounding pace of science’s development, the radius of our knowledge has greatly enlarged. With that, the areas, which are still unexplored, have also distended. It is not possible for a person with general education to explore unidentified and deep areas. It requires specialists to engage themselves into different directions of research and this eventually causes their specializations too faraway from each other. In earlier days, people were not able to distinguish between the doctors for different illnesses. They just needed a doctor to solve their problem and to treat them. However, today the scenario is very different. There are specialist doctors for each part of the body. In fact, for one part also there exist specialists for different ailments. A heart specialist will not touch a patient with kidney disease. Even, they will not be ready to treat a patient suffering with simple fever.

However, different specialists in the same field have to work together. Hence, somewhere they are influenced by each other’s work. Everything is intertwined with each other to some extent, and it is the same case with specialized researches. For example, specialist doctors have to consult other doctors also before treating a patient to rule out complications. Similarly, in the breathtaking program to depict the blueprint of human being’s genetic makeup, specialization in computer and biology have to cooperate with each other. However distinct and faraway they are from each other, when they put their work into application, their purpose is absolutely the same: to contribute to the welfare of society and us human beings. Success cannot be achieved in isolation. One needs other people’s help also. Hence, many people from different fields of physics, engineering, chemistry etc work together at NASA to make a project successful.

Hence, although the increase in knowledge is forcing people to specialize, it is for the betterment and development of the society. There is no doubt that the distance between fields of specialization has become very vast, still they influence each other, and thus influence their orientation when they are still at the minds of scientists and thinkers.