Specializing

The repercussions of being a specialist changed dramatically when our world became industrialized. Our complex society requires specialists to concentrate on smaller and more focussed aspects of the world, so much so that the need for and the consequences of their work falls outside their own expertise.

Consider a traffic engineer. Every gain in efficiency through new and wider roads, computer controlled signalling, and additional freeways is undermined by more cars, longer distances and greater demand for transport. The traffic engineer is likely doing her job very well, but every improvement is no match for increases in car and truck travel.

It is much easier to increase the supply of cars, trucks and highways than to reduce the demand for travel. Nobody ever made any money from reducing demand. And, science thrives on the technical challenges of escalating requirements.

Think about almost any facet of our industrial society. Our food specialists create larger and more efficient livestock feedlots that encourage the evolution of pandemic viruses, while our medical experts counteract with expensive and difficult to administer vaccines. Our aircraft engineers build larger and faster airplanes, only to have any efficiency gains eaten up by overcrowded arrival and departure lounges, lost baggage and increased security. Our fishing industry is busy destroying its own livelihood and our marine ecosystems by devising more and more clever ways to remove food from the oceans.

The specialists in these fields are proud of their work, and spent many years in education and practice to hone their skills. However, they choose not to look, or are paid not to look, upstream or downstream of their tasks. Traffic engineers would be less busy with fewer cars and trucks. Medical researchers would be less busy with fewer pathogenic viruses. Our oceans would be healthier with less efficient fishing techniques.

But, it's always more fun and more profitable to increase supply than to reduce demand. Just ask any specialist! Unfortunately, our modern society is fuelled by unsustainable cycles of solving and creating problems.

Next post: How our brain symbolizes our world.