Knowledge, Naivety, and Objectivity

“Our thoughts are restricted by the familiar. The brain is a meeting point of nerves where almost infinite possibilities meet, which means that it spends a lot of time and energy choosing things that it doesn’t want to notice. As a result, creativity is sacrificed for the sake of efficiency, so it turns to rigid thinking instead of creative thinking”- Johan Lehrer, “Imagine”.

Focusing on a specific discipline is not a bad tactic:

They say “Specialize”, and they also say, “Focus on a specific specialisation”, and they suggest that you become an expert.  This could be anyone, they may be your colleagues, your parents, your peers, or a person who is dear to your heart who constantly pushes you to choose a field and stay in it. Society gives priority to experience, knowledge, and understanding, and people are often rewarded for doing so.

Expand outside your specialty:

There are many schools of thought  concerned with in depth, and the last strategy is to concentrate on one topic. You may have heard people say, “Keep focusing on one specialisation to the end.” Focusing on one specialisation, or becoming an expert in a particular field it is not a strategy. Many people become highly successful after they focus their attention on well-known and exotic areas.

Although focusing on one thing is important, and that specialisation is good for securing a job, this strategy should not be followed blindly. We always focus on the benefits of choosing a specific major, but what do we give up?

Second, the “emphasis on discipline” strategy is a concept known as “extrinsic influence.” External influence fosters the notion that innovation takes place outside of disciplines. In other words, true innovation and inspiration do not happen when someone has in-depth knowledge in a particular field, rather it occurs when someone looks at a field with a new look. The person who looks at things impartially will be able to face  his problem by thinking outside of stereotypical  frames because he will gain a better point of view.

Instead of being immersed in the special knowledge in a particular field that may shackle  one's ability to progress for years,  their mind will be able to understand a certain topic or a field, and deal with it with a freely without any burdens, so the person becomes like a child who is naive enough to ask, “Why?” or even to ask a more important question: “Why not?”.

Having knowledge outside of your field is better than focusing on one specialisation:

Take  Albert Einstein, for example when people think about Einstein, they think about his general relativity theory, but what most people don’t know is that Einstein spent years at the German patent office before his break into physics.

He had a great knowledge of  physics as he had  graduated from the famous Zurich Polytechnic University, but the time he spent examining the validity of far- reaching patents gave him the wide view of the world that was necessary  to get him to construct his famous theory.

Einstein had time to consider different fields and disciplines during his time as a patent examiner. He trained to have a healthy level of naiveté, which in turn allowed him to observe his field with fresh eyes. It is true that he possessed a profound knowledge of physics, but his constant exposure to new and fundamental ideas allowed him to create his brilliant theory.

We may not be able to change our thinking quickly. It’s hard to undo the social conditioning in which knowledge trumps naivety in the search for inspiration, but as psychologist Dean Simonton at UC Davis reminds us: “If you’re able to find new challenges all the time. You can think of yourself as a young person even when you’re old.”

While knowledge is important, a good level of credulity is also important:

Let’s face it, specialisation is important, but when it lowers our level of inspiration, it ends up doing more harm than good. Thus, instead of focusing on specialisation, focus on knowing things apart from it as well. Learn whatever you find interesting regardless of its relativity to the one you chose. Learn it anyway.

By keeping ourselves in a constant state of astonishment, we give our state of mind a level of childish naivety that will lead to inspiration, innovation, personal success, and ultimately fulfilment.