Sunday, June 03, 2012

I'll Have a Little Bit of Everything, Please

I've been re-reading The Worldly Philosophers by Robert L. Heilbroner lately, brushing up on various economic theories. The copy I have is the 5th edition, which I originally read when it was assigned in one of my college classes in the early 80s. I'm going to have to track down the chapter he added in the last edition (7th, 1999) when I'm done. It's very readable; not dry at all.

One of the key reasons I got degrees in international relations and political science was because they were the most inter-disciplinary majors I could find. I didn't realize then how resistant I was to the silo effect of academia. All I knew was that once I decided I wasn't going to major in psychology like I thought, I didn't want to have to narrow down my choices to one thing.

I took classes in economics, sociology, political science, history, geography, law, and even social work. Sure the world needs specialists, people who dig deep in their disciplines and push the boundaries of knowledge. But the world also needs people like me, people who want to figure out how it all works together.

(I also like ordering combo plates at restaurants.)

2 comments:

Kyle Brunner said...

It is interesting to me that I majored in chemical engineering for nearly the same reason: I didn't want to have to choose one thing, and I wanted to know how it all works together. Maybe that sounds strange to some people, but it makes sense to me.

shelley said...

I just love you Margy.