For benefits of generality (4.3.2.1), an argument I find compelling is that if you’re trying to invent a new invention or design a new system, you need a cross-domain system-level understanding of what you’re trying to do and how. Like at my last job, it was not at all unusual for me to find myself sketching out the algorithms on a project and sketching out the link budget and scrutinizing laser spec sheets and scrutinizing FPGA spec sheets and nailing down end-user requirements, etc. etc. Not because I’m individually the best person at each of those tasks—or even very good!—but because sometimes a laser-related problem is best solved by switching to a different algorithm, or an FPGA-related problem is best solved by recognizing that the real end-user requirements are not quite what we thought, etc. etc. And that kind of design work is awfully hard unless a giant heap of relevant information and knowledge is all together in a single brain / world-model.
Thanks, this seems like a salient type of consideration, and one that isn’t captured very explicitly in the current list (though I think it may play a role in explaining the bullet point about humans with general skill-sets being in-demand).
For benefits of generality (4.3.2.1), an argument I find compelling is that if you’re trying to invent a new invention or design a new system, you need a cross-domain system-level understanding of what you’re trying to do and how. Like at my last job, it was not at all unusual for me to find myself sketching out the algorithms on a project and sketching out the link budget and scrutinizing laser spec sheets and scrutinizing FPGA spec sheets and nailing down end-user requirements, etc. etc. Not because I’m individually the best person at each of those tasks—or even very good!—but because sometimes a laser-related problem is best solved by switching to a different algorithm, or an FPGA-related problem is best solved by recognizing that the real end-user requirements are not quite what we thought, etc. etc. And that kind of design work is awfully hard unless a giant heap of relevant information and knowledge is all together in a single brain / world-model.
Thanks, this seems like a salient type of consideration, and one that isn’t captured very explicitly in the current list (though I think it may play a role in explaining the bullet point about humans with general skill-sets being in-demand).