“It is more important to allocate money for immediate, existing social problems than to spend it on long-term research that might help future generations.”

The progress in any field depends upon the extent of study and research done in that field. It might be the efforts of a single person or of a group of people that contribute towards the advancement. These people gain knowledge out of their experiences in their fields, but at the same time, they are open to outside ideas. I maintain that the progress and advancement in any field is mostly the result of extensive research done in that field. This research might or might not be supported by the experience of outsiders since it is largely the efforts of people concerned which bring a turn over in the field.

A jack of all trades is a master of none. However, a master of a particular trade knows the tricks and details of his trade better than anyone else. It is only the learned who can comment on this field of learning no better than anyone else. Therefore, I would say that it is only the person having enough knowledge of a particular field who knows his area of study the best. It is such a person who can further advance this field by venturing into its study.

Let us take the example of Albert Einstein who was a physicist. He has done remarkable work in his field and due to his efforts the theory of relativity has been known. The field of science is greatly indebted to his research and studies in this field. He had pronounced this theory in his field of study by spending years to study the phenomenon. Hence, it was his knowledge in physics that made him develop this theory. Apart from this theory, there are many noteworthy contributions done by him to science due to which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics. I don’t think we can expect any outsider to give such a universal theory of a field like this.

A learner of a particular subject should not underestimate his worth. It is only with the personal efforts of individuals that remarkable discoveries and inventions have occurred. Alexander Graham Bell has been a pioneer in the field of telecommunications and is the one to introduce the telephone to the world. He invented the telephone only after an extensive study was done by him in telecommunications. This is yet another example of a person doing eminent work in the field he is related to.

Although it is the personal efforts of these learned people that help in advancing any field, the contribution of outsiders cannot be ignored completely. It has been seen many times that novelty of ideas exists in the thoughts of outsiders. An outsider has the benefit of unrestricted thought and principles. While a person working in his field is restricted to his field, an outsider has a wider experience and can introduce a remarkable piece of information or truth. Let us take the example of Joseph Conrad. Conrad was a Polish novelist who did not know English and could not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties. Nonetheless, he learnt the language and has many noteworthy works in prose written in English. We can say that he was not originally form the field of this language. Being an outsider to English, he has been able to contribute to a great extent to English literature and his efforts cannot be overlooked.

In the end, I would like to conclude that the greatest exponents of a field are responsible of the major work done in the advancement of that particular field. However, there can be cases where noteworthy contributions are made by outsiders in another field. However, it would be incorrect to say that all the major advancements are a result of the ideas brought in by outsiders only.