Of the Footnote Fallacy

                    Our society over-rewards specialization and people rely increasingly on experts with highly specialized knowledge for information.  This led to a class of professionals such as doctors and lawyers becoming better off and powerful.  Specialist do not like it when people comment on subjects outside of their discipline.  In academia within subjects experts specialize in different areas of the subject.  Sometimes these specialists criticize people for commenting on an area of their discipline that's outside of the area of the discipline they specialize in.  In other words, a marine biologist could be criticized for commenting on evolutionary biology.  People tend to assume that unless someone has had rigorous university level courses within the discipline then they should not comment on it.  Even if that person has a small degree of knowledge on that subject.  Perhaps, by reading books on it in leisure.  Thus, the Footnote Fallacy emerges as generalists are criticized by specialists for either commenting on a subject they did study formally or for minute details the generalist missed.  This is not to say that its always a bad thing to get useful information from a specialist, or that a specialist should not correct a generalist when it is done respectfully.  Typically, the salary for specialist is significantly higher than for workers with more general skills.  Indeed, the thinking behind the Footnote Fallacy has profound implications for the economy.  In the long run a lack of interdisciplinary thinking could lead to less productive professionals.  Interdisciplinary thinking usually allows one to make connections between two seemingly unrelated phenomenon in a practical way.  Interdisciplinary reading and listening to classical music may foster this process.  Much literature both fiction and non fiction and innovation has been the result of such dot connecting.  Of course, if one were to make connections between different topics for the purposes of innovating in industry than different methods may be needed other than the ones mentioned in this blog.