Indeed. I have realized 2 things: First, technical specialization is increasingly more fine-grained; second, assumptions that anything outside of the specializ

Indeed. I have realized 2 things: First, technical specialization is increasingly more fine-grained; second, assumptions that anything outside of the specialization will magically just work. To extend your example, 30 years ago you could easily find someone who understood the whole chain...from the pedal all the way to the rubber on the road. Today? the pedal itself likely has a microcontroller in it... designed by a pedal expert, who knows what the various I/O requirements are and has little or no concern with what the car actually does. Probably leads to better pedal designs, but you need an army of people to tell you why the car might not move.