It's good to draw attention to this, but is it new? Newton said "We stand on the shoulders of giants." The potential(actual?) problem with this is it can neces

It's good to draw attention to this, but is it new? Newton said "We stand on the shoulders of giants." The potential(actual?) problem with this is it can necessitate crippling specialization. Who maintains an overview? Who directs goals and avoids harmful drift is the overall direction? Maintaining the overview is perfectly practical, but who does it, what is their motivation, and how is it legitimized?