[FRIAM] are we how we behave?

[Steven A Smith]

Marcus -

Marcus -

My quote of Heinlein the renowned "Human Chauvanist" was somewhat
tongue-in-cheek.   I applaud the general spirit of the polymath, always
seeking, never-say-die he implies here, but as you point out, there is
no clear boundary around how much one can learn.

And in the spirit of your last response characterizing polyculture over
monoculture somewhat as the "foam" Glen referenced earlier, I cannot but
agree with you.

The richness obtained and experienced by being *an individual* in the
context of a (multi?)culture is not only that everyone else "has so much
to teach you" but also that "there is so much you can defer to others". 
This doesn't have to be an either-or between depth/breadth, but maybe
more of an appreciation for being (more) able to choose a subset of what
breadth/depth one will seek to explore/cover?

- Steve


On 3/6/19 2:29 PM, Marcus Daniels wrote:
>
> Steve writes:
>
> “Reminds me of the (in)famous Robert Heinlein quote so (s?)favored by
> Libertarians and other strong Individualists: 
>
> /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, analyze a new
> problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight
> efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.///
>
>  
>
> Life has finite length and the rate of learning is finite.  
> Individuals aren’t going to learn how to do everything.   It isn’t
> even helpful to write down a list of `everything’ and say go learn
> that.  Because it just insults the vastness of everything, and assumes
> that collectively we see even a little of it.    Why not throw “become
> a world class violinist” or “become the top cited researcher in string
> theory” or “break the two hour barrier on the marathon” into the mix too?
>
>  
>
> Marcus
>
>
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