Specialisation is for insects.

Ah, my first post. I'm excited, can you feel it? My skin is atingle with anticipation and my mind awash with a sparkling wonder. Or, something like that.

I think humans should be adaptable, don't you? I think we have to be, in our modern society. Hundreds of years ago, it was acceptable to be a specialist; a carpenter, a farmer, a butcher, a bard, a poet, etc. But, in today's society, because of modern technology and the dozens upon dozens of potential platforms that we're presented with, we simply cannot afford to only possess understanding of a single craft. There is too much to be lost in specialisation:

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

- Robert A. Heinlein

Possibly the most profound thing a science fiction writer has ever said. I don't think George Lucas had any similar gems. Please enlighten me if I'm wrong. The best George Lucas quote I found was:

Although I write screenplays, I don't think I'm a very good writer.

- George Lucas

A philosophy we can all live by.

Anyway, returning to the original crux of my evening bloggery, it is no longer enough for an artist, a craftsman or a businessman to just set up shop and wait for the trade to roll in. The competition is too great and the poor, probably very hardworking individual will likely just be swallowed up by the bewildering blast of modern media. Promotion and marketing have become the first of many utterly essential skills for anybody who does anything at all, along with branding and networking. To extend the net a little further, filmmaking, graphic design, musicianship and effective outsourcing are always helpful, as are business and management skills.

So, let's all start learning. Let's start reading books, and Googling things, watching YouTube tutorials and making fools of ourselves until we get it right. Otherwise, we're done for and we're doomed to stack shelves and shovel crap until our collective dying breath.

Learning never exhausts the mind.

- Leonardo da Vinci

Learning is the beginning of wealth. Learning is the beginning of health. Learning is the beginning of spirituality. Searching and learning is where the miracle process all begins.

- Jim Rohn

If University taught me anything, it's that things are always more correct just cos somebody else said them first.

Neuro-fuel for your beautiful brains,

Katsuo