1

00:00:00,009 --> 00:00:08,030

Versatile Man

2

00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:09,880

It is, perhaps,

3

00:00:09,889 --> 00:00:13,830

no accident that many of the outstanding figures of the past

4

00:00:13,839 --> 00:00:16,560

were exceptionally versatile men.

5

00:00:16,569 --> 00:00:20,170

Right up until comparatively recent times,

6

00:00:20,179 --> 00:00:22,690

it was possible for an intelligent person

7

00:00:22,699 --> 00:00:25,750

to acquaint himself with almost every branch of knowledge.

8

00:00:25,759 --> 00:00:31,110

Thus, men of genius like Leonardo da Vinci or Sir Philip Sidney,

9

00:00:31,119 --> 00:00:34,820

engaged in many careers at once as a matter of course.

10

00:00:34,829 --> 00:00:38,770

Da Vinci was so busy with his numerous inventions,

11

00:00:38,779 --> 00:00:42,160

that he barely found the time to complete his paintings;

12

00:00:42,169 --> 00:00:44,660

Sidney, who died in battle

13

00:00:44,669 --> 00:00:46,080

when he was only thirty-two years old,

14

00:00:46,089 --> 00:00:48,290

was not only a great soldier,

15

00:00:48,299 --> 00:00:50,900

but a brilliant scholar and poet as well.

16

00:00:50,909 --> 00:00:54,090

Both these men came very near

17

00:00:54,099 --> 00:00:57,800

to fulfilling the Renaissance ideal of the “universal man”,

18

00:00:57,809 --> 00:01:00,190

the man who was good at everything.

19

00:01:00,199 --> 00:01:03,930

Today, we rarely, if ever,

20

00:01:03,939 --> 00:01:07,640

hear that a musician has just invented a new type of submarine.

21

00:01:07,649 --> 00:01:12,780

Knowledge has become divided and sub-divided into countless,

22

00:01:12,789 --> 00:01:14,320

narrowly-defined parts.

23

00:01:14,329 --> 00:01:16,490

The specialist is respected;

24

00:01:16,499 --> 00:01:20,750

the versatile person, far from being admired,

25

00:01:20,759 --> 00:01:23,510

is more often regarded with suspicion.

26

00:01:23,519 --> 00:01:28,530

The modern world is a world of highly-skilled “experts”

27

00:01:28,539 --> 00:01:31,690

who have had to devote the greater part of their lives

28

00:01:31,699 --> 00:01:34,120

to a very limited field of study

29

00:01:34,129 --> 00:01:36,400

in order to compete with their fellows.

30

00:01:36,409 --> 00:01:39,910

With this high degree of specialization,

31

00:01:39,919 --> 00:01:43,520

the frontiers of knowledge are steadily being pushed back

32

00:01:43,529 --> 00:01:45,280

more rapidly than ever before.

33

00:01:45,289 --> 00:01:50,090

But this has not been achieved without considerable cost.

34

00:01:50,099 --> 00:01:51,820

The scientist,

35

00:01:51,829 --> 00:01:56,000

who outside his own particular subject is little more than an idiot,

36

00:01:56,009 --> 00:01:57,610

is a modern phenomenon;

37

00:01:57,619 --> 00:02:02,870

as is the man of letters who is barely aware of the tremendous strides

38

00:02:02,879 --> 00:02:04,520

that have been made in technology.

39

00:02:04,529 --> 00:02:06,270

Similarly,

40

00:02:06,279 --> 00:02:10,760

specialization has indirectly affected quite ordinary people

41

00:02:10,769 --> 00:02:12,490

in every walk of life.

42

00:02:12,499 --> 00:02:17,520

Many activities which were once pursued for their own sakes,

43

00:02:17,529 --> 00:02:20,050

are often given up in despair:

44

00:02:20,059 --> 00:02:22,990

they require techniques,

45

00:02:22,999 --> 00:02:24,750

the experts tell us,

46

00:02:24,759 --> 00:02:27,590

which take a life-time to master.

47

00:02:27,599 --> 00:02:29,890

Why learn to play the piano,

48

00:02:29,899 --> 00:02:32,830

when you can listen to the world’s greatest pianists

49

00:02:32,839 --> 00:02:34,830

in your own drawing-room?