Many who enter higher education come in with the goal of getting a degree to develop their learning on a topic, achieve the degree of mastery necessary from employment, and go on their merry way to whatever career they so desire. Although this is becoming marginally more understandable as the breadth of knowledge in each discipline has reached such a degree that claiming expertise in any given discipline can be a dubious statement, this approach to higher education is simply missing the point entirely.
Rather than being in the pursuit of ‘mastery’ of a discipline (although the particulars of such a qualification are fairly nebulous), higher education is about how to learn, not necessarily what one learns. Of course, one should choose a course of study that they find interesting and compelling, but pigeonholing oneself to only work, think and problem solve within the mental confines of one discipline is antithetical to making meaningful intellectual contributions to our increasingly interdisciplinary society. While the aphorism of ‘jack of all trades, master of none’ may have a seemingly intuitive logic to it, it belies the very nature of learning itself. Much like acquiring multiple languages, learning the various disciplines gives one a deeper appreciation of the nature, goals and characteristics of knowledge, making further acquisition easier. While all processes of study, be it deep study of one subject or topical study of many, sharpen the skills of rhetoric and reasoning, one much accept that the pursuit of any kind of knowledge is accessible for handling (not just what is on their degree/job description). So while engineering schools (not to point fingers), may churn out students that specialize in a singular type of thinking and reasoning, they fail to posses the broader academic awareness and intellectual well-roundedness to engage in a variety intellectual pursuits.
See, many students make the implicit assumption that they can only seriously engage with the field of study that appears on their diploma, but this seriously limits not only one’s intellectual potential, but ignores the greater context of ideas in which the field of study resides. Furthermore, while one always has the opportunity to develop expertise further (as the challenges of a problem or whimsy directs), but one may fail to realize connections between various disciplines that could provide fruitful fodder for thought and research.
Most importantly, by familiarizing oneself with a broader variety of knowledge, critical thinking skills are honed in the most effective way. For it is not the information itself that matters (although it does, very much), but rather the modes of thought and reasoning that enable one to engage more meaningfully. A wide familiarity of the thinking ‘within’ the various disciplines gives powerful succor for metacognitive processes that hone and develop one’s mind. One will no longer feel discouraged to engage with more advanced study of disciplines that don’t proclaim mastery in, as they see where the information fits in the greater intellectual hierarchy of the conception of the world that they utilize.
So while I may proclaim that my main interest is in the applied physics of defense technology, I by no means limit my serious study to topics directly or even indirectly related to the topic. Rather, I engage in a rigorous academic manner with all that interests me, and through this engagement further interest in other subjects arises and the perpetuation of learning continues. Through this, the world around me become a much more interesting, meaningful place.