Author: David Epstein
Date read: 2021-04-01
The idea is to explore and sample various things in life to know yourself and your abilities better. In a specialized life, one remains limited to what he has specialized and the potential talents remain unknown.
In the short term, the specialized ones, e.g. students after graduation can easily find a job and get a good salary. Having that said, specialized are prone to leave their jobs after some time because they don't posses an appropriate "match quality" for a certain career. On the other hand, generalists can benefit in the long run, because they can find their interests, find a better occupation which fits their talents and even make some break through in a field. The reason is due to the fact that the knowledge that they have gathered in different fields can add up and make connections between interfaces of distinct fields.
What I like about the book is that it heavily relies on science and various studies in different fields, from sports to music and economy.
What this book could do better is about sampling and exploring in older people. In other words, I have the impression that this book is tailored for parents who want to discipline their children. It would have been helpful, if some scientific studies about the people who are for instance in their 30s and change the field of their work for the sake of discovering their talents and interests was mentioned.
Rating: 5/5