I'm going to buck the trend of the comments above and admit to being a specialist. At least, my brain is structured enough for me to be a specialist. I am freakishly good at my job. My boss assigns me work that generally wouldn't be entrusted to someone with twice my experience. However, I refuse to let myself go down that path. Yes, I could spend my weekends reading trade journals instead of science fiction. Yes, I could go back to school and concentrate on research (and attempt to ignore my lack of income). If I did these things and applied myself, I could be the next Karl Terzaghi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Terzaghi)...that is, one of the most recognized names in the industry.
You know what? I love my job. But I refuse to let that one thing define me. Most of the other things I do, I learned through incredible persistence. For example, when I started playing guitar 17 years ago, I was tone deaf. It took me 3 years before I could even tune the stupid thing. Even all these years later, I'm only a passable musician - I'll never be great.
The moral of the story: you're exactly right. While you and your fellow generalists all secretly wish you could be really good at something, us specialists all secretly long to have a broader base to work from. I guess there's something about human nature that never lets us be completely happy with who we are.
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Date: Sat, Jan. 26th, 2008 06:07 pm (UTC)You know what? I love my job. But I refuse to let that one thing define me. Most of the other things I do, I learned through incredible persistence. For example, when I started playing guitar 17 years ago, I was tone deaf. It took me 3 years before I could even tune the stupid thing. Even all these years later, I'm only a passable musician - I'll never be great.
The moral of the story: you're exactly right. While you and your fellow generalists all secretly wish you could be really good at something, us specialists all secretly long to have a broader base to work from. I guess there's something about human nature that never lets us be completely happy with who we are.