Are you a specialist or well-informed?

Ma, I would say you're quite well informed. No matter which field you've specialized in, you're very very aware about your surroundings and that's really important. People have their highest adaptability when they are aware of their surroundings. Some people are born leaders. They are usually well informed people and don't belong to any particular area of specialization. You put them in difficult situations and they will clear things up for you. They can make quick management decisions because they always have a good estimation of most of the factors playing. Specialists, however are indispensable for research, development and teaching. If you have a specialization and you are also well informed, nothing can stop you.

Well, if her expertise is Psychology, that is what she should write about, but it all depends on what kind of Psychology she is going to write about. I have written some Science Fiction books, and I am writing comic books and graphic novels, but I need and artist, I can't draw to save my life. I have one story in the works right now. It's very different from what is out there. It's almost like a "Choose your own adventure" comic book/graphic novel.

I remember one of my friend once expressing her wish to become an author, but she couldn't decide what to write about. That's often a problem with experts. She was a BA in psychology. I asked her to start writing about psychology. If you want to write or talk about something you should start with your area of expertise. If you know a lot about Comic Books and Science fiction you should share it with others. There are people all over the world who are crazy about comic books. I am definitely one of them. They will be delighted to read your stuffs.

Good points but remember that even the most informed person can be misinformed or capable of malpractice, and writers make mistakes in there books, a robotic technician can create somthing with glitches no one is truly an expert without flaws or mistakes even docters misdiagnose people. My sister reads a lot of books and she also has had aspirations to write her own books. she often pointed out many mistakes writers of her favorite books have made, also I have visited many docters over the years and I have been given the wrong prescription by a supposedly well expert doctor and I have been misdiagnosed before. my point is some so called experts still have a lot to learn, and we should never put total faith, and people just because they are claiming to be an expert or because they have a peace of paper that says they know what there doing. The word expert implies that a person knows all there is to know about somthing and we as human beings can come very close to knowing everything about somthing but we never can completely know everything because there's always somthing new to learn about a subject well informed would be the better word.

Probably you're right. There are a lot of people who claim to be experts which they are not. It takes a lot of things to be an expert. Like I said, you need to know every little thing about a particular thing to be an expert in it. Expertise means depth. In order to have depth in knowledge you may have to compromise with the coverage. What I mean is that, if you are an expert you may not be good at some other things even if that looks odd. I have a friend who can talk volumes about robotics but has absolutely no knowledge about politics. This is normal for an expert. A well informed person, on the other hand, knows everything but nothing in depth. A writer has to be well informed as he needs to know a little bit of everything.

Yes you can definitely be well informed without being a specialist. There are people who don't belong to any particular field of study. But that doesn't mean that they are deficient in any respect. They have a good overview of the entire matter. Just put them in any atmosphere and they will manage everything quite unexpectedly. Give them a mangled piece of metal and they will build a Titanic out of it. Specialists usually dedicate themselves in research and teaching whereas well-informed guys go for social welfare and leadership. Both of them are indispensable for our society.

That's great. You are not alone. I am with you on this.

You can pat your back. Most of the writers are of this type. I have been an engineer. Then I turned into a writer. When I was dealing in my field, I was highly specialized. I was not even interested in rest of the world. But when you are a writer of general sort, you need to know a little bit of everything. You see, writers take their society as the background of their work. So one needs to be aware of all the things that is going on in one's own society. When I started writing I felt that with my movements limited within the boundaries of my field of study I may never be successful as a writer. Having said that I felt the need for studying different fields that are unrelated to my engineering discipline. Now I write about psychology, economics, literature etc. I think being well informed helps the writer to use elements from his surroundings more effectively.

True. But one should listen to the right people for that. Most of my friends here are terribly opposed to politics. I failed to make them understand that politics is not about a few corrupt politicians and that everyone should learn at least something about politics and law. They love to discuss about electronic gadgets, universities, computers, robots but never about democracy, economics, philosophy or religion. I also take interest in the subjects that they are interested in. But I don't feel satisfied with that. I want to know more; I want to be more aware about what's going on around me.

People do specialize in multiple fields all the time. However you can't love both of them equally. You will always love one of them than the other. The difference may be little but there is always a difference. That apparently unidentifiable difference makes you an expert in one thing and less of an expert in the other. It's all about what you enjoy the most. What do you think?

It all depends on your range of interests. If it's wide and less deep you are well informed. When it lacks in vastness but has a greater depth in a few matters you fall under the category of specialist. A person who is well informed can be good at some subjects than the other. I belong to the well informed type myself, yet I take keen interest in handful of matters. Computers, scientific studies, politics are the subjects that I love the most. This is because I have been a specialist once. I used to take interest in engineering subjects only. But then I realized that as a citizen of my country I need to know a lot more than my subject. It's not only the engineering or science that builds a nation. There are other aspects that one should take into consideration. Moreover, having a narrow range of interests will make you bored most of the times. It also prevents you from having friendly discussions with all kinds of people.

That's great. I was into instrumentation engineering. But after I graduated I took to computer science like a duck to water. I first bought a computer to play games and to watch movies. I know it may sound weird. But then I started torturing the PC and one day it couldn't take it anymore and broke down. When I bought another PC I took a vow to learn more about computing and that's exactly what I did. However I am not sure if I can still call myself a specialist because there are still so many things that I don't know about computers. I would rather call myself a well informed person with a love for computing. Does that sound nice?

Awwh not only does it sound nice but sweet too. LOL, I find that I can list myself as a specialist as I am one who not rest until I know all the ins and outs to reach full knowledge. Due to my persistence and dedication I will never take and and compromise myself as then later I will be my worst enemy.

You are absolutely right. Specialists often loose friends because they don't understand anything except for their own field. Most of the specialists I've seen usually put up a peculiar kind of resistance all around them. They don't want to waste time in studying, thinking or even listening about things that don't interest them. A person who is crazy about physics will hardly have any interest in the insulin level in someone's blood. When I was a specialist I wont to go out with friends. Most of them bored me because they did not want to talk about engineering. Day by day I became more and more withdrawn. It was practically intolerable. So I started to rethink and reform myself, and fortunately, I finally did it and regained my circle of friends.