In modern society, deep specialised expertise is more valuable. There is a famous quote from Heinlein “specialisation is for insects”, suggesting we should not

In modern society, deep specialised expertise is more valuable. There is a famous quote from Heinlein “specialisation is for insects”, suggesting we should not specialise. But in modern society where everything is interconnected, we are not unlike a “super organism” akin to ants, termites, bees. Another reason deep technical expertise is better is that, once you go deep in one thing, one appreciates and can connect with others who are deep in other things. For example, world class pianists, violinists, cellists have deep expertise in their own field, but their deep expertise precisely gives them access to connect to a larger body of work (e.g. chamber music).