We humans are funny creatures. We tend to do things we are good at doing and avoid things at which we suck. Consequently we achieve unbalanced specialization rather than across-the-board ability. Specialization encourages glaring weaknesses that become failure points when we are under stress.
Julie Foucher is a world-class Crossfitter and a first year medical student at the Cleveland Clinic who just posted an interesting story about her school's grading method, the portfolio system.
The idea behind it is that by accentuating weaknesses we are able to focus on the areas that most need improvement. In a world that is changing fast - perhaps faster than we can comprehend - it seems important that we become well rounded so we are able to adapt.
Julie: "Constantly pressuring individuals to exude an air of perfection, society persuades us that the perfect outfit or a stellar college transcript, house, or career can provide a façade for the imperfections and insecurities that we all have. While they may allow us to proceed through life smiling on the outside, outward expressions of perfection may actually prevent us from recognizing our flaws and capitalizing on real opportunities for growth."
Blog Post:
http://juliefoucher.com/2012/05/29/our- ... cializing/
Crossfit's tag line is, "Our specialty is not specializing." I'd be interested to know how others have done this in different areas of life.
A Portfolio System
I think this is a very important theme for someone who desires independence in the broad sense -- i.e., not just financial. Our world focuses on specialization, because frankly that's where the big bucks are. The top people in most fields usually make a lot of money and there are throngs trying to be them. It's "efficient" in the cog-in-the-machine economic sense and harkens back to Adam Smith's pin factory.
But if you do not believe "happiness = utility = dollars in your pocket", which is one of the central unstated assumptions of most economic theory, specialization may not make you very happy in the long run.
Many older philosophies, both Eastern and Western, focus on the idea of developing the "whole person" as the key to a happy or satisfying life. To do this it is essential to focus on weaknesses. Demosthenes filling his mouth full of rocks to train himself to be a better speaker is a classic example.
This is one of the reasons I've sent my kids to Jesuit High Schools. And encourage them to try things I am pretty sure they won't be good at, at least not very good or only average at the first go. Overcoming weaknesses and succeeding is always more satisfying than merely relying on natural gifts.
But if you do not believe "happiness = utility = dollars in your pocket", which is one of the central unstated assumptions of most economic theory, specialization may not make you very happy in the long run.
Many older philosophies, both Eastern and Western, focus on the idea of developing the "whole person" as the key to a happy or satisfying life. To do this it is essential to focus on weaknesses. Demosthenes filling his mouth full of rocks to train himself to be a better speaker is a classic example.
This is one of the reasons I've sent my kids to Jesuit High Schools. And encourage them to try things I am pretty sure they won't be good at, at least not very good or only average at the first go. Overcoming weaknesses and succeeding is always more satisfying than merely relying on natural gifts.