Review of Range: How Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World
I finished reading Range: How Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein.📚
Contrary to what the world wants to teach us, you do not specialize early in your life. It is ok to meander to find what fits you. And switching interests or work types is not harmful. Each chapter in the book showcases the life path of a different person and how it worked out for his career.
Most parts of our life we spend in an environment where we cannot use solutions learned by rote, so having a broad spectrum of experiences helps you to solve issues in all situations. The conclusion is that you achieve better long-term results when you learn slowly and with more concrete problems.
The context of your knowledge and learning is always relevant.
Ibn Khaldun, considered a founder of sociology, pointed out centuries ago, a city dweller traveling through the desert will be completely dependent on a nomad to keep him alive. So long as they remain in the desert, the nomad is a genius.
I think this is also something quite crucial in today’s world:
Compare yourself to yourself yesterday, not to younger people who aren’t you. Everyone progresses at a different rate, so don’t let anyone else make you feel behind.
Every human is different, and you don’t need to compare yourself too much against others. It certainly makes sense to compare against your past self and observe how much further you have come since then.
Comments
@JeremyWxBaker I’ve enjoyed the book and think it helped me a bit with feeling like I’m too late at everything in my life.
by V_ on
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@V_ What did you think, overall?
by JeremyWxBaker on