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… there is the misconception that new ideas come simply from detail[ed] knowledge of your field. In fact, most creativity comes from around the boundaries of a discipline where fields of expertise overlap, it comes from the edges of the known not the comfortable centre. These days that overlap seems to be achieved mainly by the coming together of specialists at those boundaries - a sort of collective polymathy. But however you do it, innovation requires polymathy.

Over the past century, humankind has seen dramatic increases in specialization—at home, at work, in geography, in scholarship, in the layout of cities and towns. There is, of course, a compelling cause—knowledge in so many realms has been so much expanded that effectively applying knowledge to healthcare, law, or scientific experimentation requires extensive training. In these fields, there may be a cost in lost progress or innovation because of excessive division of understanding.

But there is also a much scarier trend. Not everyone needs to make scientific discoveries, but everyone needs to have a healthy life that includes caring for friends and family, pursuing satisfying work, making love, eating, learning, and teaching. Increasingly we have psychiatrists to care for us, consumerism as the surrogate objective of work we do not otherwise value, sexual desires shaped by mass media, food made by machines, and a school/college monopoly on learning.

Any of these effects is probably an impediment to happiness on its own. But what about the second-order effects? If, from a young age, you never believe you have a chance to become a most trusted friend, or an effective teacher, how will you approach other problems? Will you just assume you can't achieve goal because you're not a goal-ist?

This is the danger expressed in Brave New World and similar dystopic visions—that humans will tend further toward believing they can do nothing. Is that prophecy fulfilling itself right now?