Specialization - 1/31/11

It's pretty obvious that we exist in a society that is saturated by specialization.  Everywhere you look, workers are actively engaged in the production of goods or services that demands certain skills and capabilities.  From the pedestrian and menial, to the sophisticated and complex.....the infrastructure of our work-force is composed of individuals who deliberately sought to attain particular skills or pieces of knowledge in order to achieve their given positions.

But what will become of the world after an unimaginable disaster?  When specialization forces key bits of information into certain hands, these individuals become indispensable to the community writ large.  Yes, records can preserve knowledge, but NOTHING can replace being taught an application or method by a skilled labourer who's been performing the same task for decades.  And should these people become incapacitated or somehow removed from production, is their knowledge then lost forever? 

In centuries past, the general populace was educated by their parents, their schools, and even their community.  They were taught how to survive in this harsh world out of necessity; they learned to hunt, farm, build, and cook....and they compassed these pragmatic disciplines through daily participation which enabled them to effectively raise a family and provide for themselves and their loved ones. 

Nowadays, survival is no longer a struggle for most of civilized society....which means that we're allowed to follow whatever path interests us.  We don't need to have a gross understanding of many different skills, we can focus on one and allow others to focus on their own.....which would benefit both parties in theory.  But such is not the case, because with the population density the way it is, certain attractive careers are more coveted than others, meaning the competition in the job market is fierce.  This then requires those who wish to excel to remain in school and become even more specialized in a DISTINCT field of study in order make their resume stand out. And so the individual, who was once a Jack of All Trades in the not-too-distant past....has relinquished his broad range of practical knowledge for a deep understanding of a particular skill.

But we've gained nothing in the trade-off.  We expected to have more time to enjoy ourselves in leisure and play....but the exact opposite has occurred. Specialization has required our utmost attention, our every faculty, and our complete energy in order to merely remain current in the career path we've chosen.  Furthermore, most of us are absolutely incapable of taking care of ourselves in a situation where our survival is at stake because we've never had the impetus to learn some very basic, fundamental skills.

Should catastrophe strike, I truly feel that those that survive will have an incredibly difficult time in the wake of destruction.....not because of the devastation wrought by whatever calamity has befallen us, but because our educations have been so specialized that.....alone and cut-off from one another, we will have no earthly idea how to rebuild civilization to it's former intricacy and grandeur.