The Renaissance Cyborg

Published: Feb. 15, 2018, 12:30 a.m.

b"Specialization Is for Insects, Part 2\\n\\nThis is a follow-up to our discussion on Realizing Possibilities ...Fast back in December.\\xa0\\n\\nWhat kind of knowledge and skills will we need to thrive in a world where everything is a coffee shop?\\xa0\\n\\nRationally it would seem that there are advantages to possessing specialized knowledge and general knowledge. But are we becoming too focused on the former?\\n\\nRather than letting technology make us ever more specialized, we should use it to broaden our horizons. At one time, the Renaissance Man was the model of the widely adept human being. Maybe now it's time for the Renaissance Cyborg.\\n\\nR. Buckminster Fuller was a fierce advocate of human beings as generalists.\\n\\nSpecialization has bred feelings of isolation, futility, and confusion in individuals. It has also resulted in the individual\\u2019s leaving responsibility for thinking and social action to others. Specialization breeds biases that ultimately aggregate as international and ideological discord, which in turn leads to war.\\xa0\\n\\nBucky explained why he thought U. S. Navy officer training was the perfect generalist education in his book Utopia or Oblivion?\\xa0\\n\\nWT 404-717\\n\\nEternity Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)\\n\\nLicensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License\\n\\ncreativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/"