master of all disciplines

There will be people who specialize in something and people who are jack of all trades, but sometimes you have jack of all trades who are capable of recognizing the vast interconnectedness of various specialization and attempt to make a point of enlightening others but since this concept is relatively complicated for masses to grasp these jack of all trades are ignored or forgotten because their idea is not as profound or poignant as specialists who typically can produce more immediate results. The net effect is a gradual growth toward a singular moment, when specialists finally realize that their niches and individual lines of thought do tend to be interconnected and their exists an interplay of their specific ideas within other disciplines, much like a thread is twisted into a braid which is twisted into stronger rope.

To use a non-specific historical example, imagine a king who conquers all the lands in his region and defeats his enemies. Ultimately, the king dies and his well groomed heir is a good administrator but realizes that there are enemies beyond his conquered territories, if he is a smart king, he learns  how to be a great general in battle as well as a great administrator, otherwise he turns to a strong general or is deposed. If he becomes a great general, he defeats the outsiders and the unity of the empire remains; if he turns to a strong general or fails at all to resist marauders, he either is overwhelmed by the invaders or deposed by the general because of the general’s might and hero status. If he is an exceptionally good king and has a son to succeed him, he will teach him the value of the lessons he learned and his son will be a good general and administrator but perhaps all this wars have strained the economy and money is tight and the citizens become disgruntled under heavy taxes, a truly great king might learn the value of trade and diplomacy with neighboring nations, herein lies a troublesome hurdle because it requires that the neighboring kings are friendly and wish to trade rather than conquer, but for arguments sake we will assume that it is a more modern era and warfare has become a means of last resort for other civilized nations… etc, eventually the best kings become masters of all disciplines, ideally being able to handle all problems which may arise and capable of looking for answers to new unexpected ones.

This is the way science and culture and society must and eventually, will evolve, because life is a grand experiment, history has taught us as much. The Roman Empire rose and fell as did the Empires of Genghis Kahn, the Chinese, the British, even our own American “empire”, we have learned that if an experiment  fails, whether its be because of war, disease or a more gradual decline, there is always another group or individual waiting in the wings to pick up where the others failed.

force and war

Force is a fool’s game. Force causes nations to war and costs parent’s the lives of their children. To be made to use force is to show your hand as well as to be seen as the aggressor. It is easy for the weak-minded to follow an aggressor but the U.S. is not populated by the weak-minded individuals who question the reasons behind force and find quickly its faults. We have long been a country that valued peace and understood the power of communication and patience. Through our history we have sought to refrain entering heedlessly into war. It is not popular to be the aggressor, it is unpopular to impose your views upon another. WWII taught us that while aggression is frowned upon, isolationism and appeasement can not be condoned. Peace through strength reflects our American identity. Theodore Roosevelt is often quoted to have said “Speak softly and carry a big stick” but the truth is it is more useful to have a big stick than to have swung.

complexity

life is either simple or complex, either too simple to bother with or too complex to ignore. Many legal arguments arise from this dilemma. Either a legal claim is too small to matter, ie. “My dog urinating on my neighbor’s yard is merely an inconvenience issue.” or too complex to ignore, ie . “Personal property and privacy go to the very core of holding a person responsible for the actions of the individuals they claim.” The arguments arise because of a lack of communications and an ignorance of the other party’s knowledge and opinion on an issue. this speaks to a great many arguments as a majority of debates revolve not around who is correct or who has the facts right but the interpretation of those facts and the definitions of who is correct. Where one stands on the spectrum of interpretation and definition reflects largely on who you are and disagree with.

Rare but poignant is the issue that slips directly between to two extremes of an issue and threatens to alter the paradigm of the argument so drastically as to force and overhaul of our understanding of an issue and require us to shift the debate to a new level of the spectrum. It is this paradigm shift, what I think of as the edge effect; that demands of us and forces us uncomfortably to re-examine our positions, a task few of us are eager to undertake.