Yes, I will generalize a good bit on this blog. Yes, you will be able to present particular examples that contradict my generalizations. So what? An exception does not make a generalization untrue; that would require a mountain of exceptions. Specificity and detail are fine in their places, but if you can't generalize from them, they are useless. Generalizations are where the mind transcends its dull clutter and shines. If they are well thought out.
People who worship and mass details are called Experts; often they have PhD's. People defer to them because they are Authorities. The first step toward intellectual freedom is to mistrust and question all authorities. Mostly, they are people who know a lot about one thing and very little about anything else. They are standardized souls and a society that demands standardization values them. In reality, they are insects, and disease bearing ones at that. Never accept anything they say without thoroughly thinking it through and seeing if you arrive independently at their conclusion. You don't want to be an insect. Or do you?
"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
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