You must have heard of the popular phrase, “Jack of all
trades, master of none”. This was actually used to convey that one should
attain expertise in one subject. If he tries his hand in everything that he
comes across, he would not be able to specialize in anything and would have
little value.
However, I have never been able to agree to this idea – my
personal view is that one should have working knowledge of many aspects to be
able to survive. Let me explain this. Isn’t it enough know how to cook, although I may not be able
to churn up exotic dishes? There are some preparations which are my forte, and
that has come with time through rounds of preparations, improvisations based on
feedback, etc.
Similarly, in today’s world, with changing technology, to
keep oneself abreast with the industry, we have to quickly upgrade ourselves –
we have to know important aspects to keep ourselves updated, although we may
not be experts.
I am not denying the value of being an expert at any
particular profession, but there is no harm in knowing little bit about other
ways of life as well.
Would you agree?
__Read previous posts on Theme: Things my life revolves around: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I
2 comments:
Yes, I agree with you. Knowing more about other aspects makes one a "well rounded person" I think.
It seems to me that it was coined by people who had picked one career or profession and knew so little about anything else they needed to be derogatory in order to justify their own self-importance. Then it became a way of restricting employment or entry to unions or guilds if you weren't a specialist.
These days I think we've realised that these silos of individual subjects do not help the world go round; we need people who can connect across many specialists to prevent unintended consequences. Of course, we need both! But multitaskers to need to have some knowledge of these things they multitask at, and sometimes that doesn't happen.
Of course, I'm a Jack of All Trades...
Jemima, doing the A to Z of my writing inspirations
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