Episode 117
David Epstein | Range: Why Generalists Triumph in Today’s Specialized World
Episode 117
David Epstein
David Epstein | Range: Why Generalists Triumph in Today’s Specialized World
summary
In this week’s episode of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with author David Epstein about what the world’s most successful people have in common. He discovers that in most fields—especially those that are complex and unpredictable—generalists, not specialists, are the ones primed for success. “As computers master more of the skills once reserved for highly focused humans,” says David, “people who think broadly and embrace diverse experiences and perspectives will increasingly thrive.”
David’s conclusions run counter to the prevailing view among “experts” who argue that anyone who wants to develop a skill, play an instrument, or lead their field should start early, focus intensely, and rack up as many hours of deliberate practice as possible. “If you dabble or delay,” they say “you’ll never catch up to the people who got a head start.” But a closer look at research on the world’s top performers, from professional athletes to Nobel laureates, paints a very different picture. In fact, it shows that early specialization is actually the exception, not the rule.
In his research, David Epstein discovers that while generalists often do find their path late—juggling many interests rather than focusing on one—they arrive at their destination with a higher degree of “fit” after undergoing a prolonged sampling period. They’re also more creative, more agile, and able to make connections their more specialized peers can’t see.
In their conversation, David Epstein makes a compelling case for actively cultivating inefficiency. He explains why failing a test is the best way to learn and that frequent quitters end up with the most fulfilling careers. He gives example after example of how some of the most impactful inventors cross domains rather than deepening their knowledge in a single area. In a 21st century increasingly dominated by automation and the specter of artificial intelligence, David believes that people who think broadly and embrace diverse experiences and perspectives will increasingly thrive.
You can access the rundown to this week’s episode, along with a transcript to Demetri’s conversation with David through the Hidden Forces Supercast Page. All subscribers also gain access to our overtime feed, which can be easily be added to your favorite podcast application, allowing you to listen in on the rest of Demetri and David’s conversation.
Producer & Host: Demetri Kofinas
Editor & Engineer: Stylianos Nicolaou
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bio
David Epstein is the author of Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World, and The Sports Gene, which has been translated in 18 languages. He was previously a science and investigative reporter at ProPublica, and prior to that a senior writer at Sports Illustrated, where he co-authored the story that revealed Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez had used steroids. His writing has been honored by an array of organizations, from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, to the Society of Professional Journalists and the National Center on Disability and Journalism, and has been included in the Best American Science and Nature Writing anthology. His story “Following the Trail of Broken Hearts,” on sudden cardiac death in athletes, was chosen as one of the top 100 stories of the last 100 years by Columbia Journalism alumni. David has master’s degrees in environmental science and journalism and is reasonably sure he’s the only person to have co-authored a paper in the journal of Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research while a writer at Sports Illustrated. He has worked as an ecology researcher in the Arctic, studied geology and astronomy while residing in the Sonoran Desert, and blithely signed up to work on the D-deck of a seismic research vessel shortly after it had been attacked by pirates. An avid runner, he was a Columbia University record holder and twice NCAA All-East as an 800-meter runner.
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Proclivi currit oratio. Nos paucis ad haec additis finem faciamus aliquando; Qui potest igitur habitare in beata vita summi mali metus? Quamquam id quidem licebit iis existimare, qui legerint. Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Non enim iam stirpis bonum quaeret, sed animalis. Sit hoc ultimum bonorum, quod nunc a me defenditur; Unum nescio, quo modo possit, si luxuriosus sit, finitas cupiditates habere.
An hoc usque quaque, aliter in vita? Ergo adhuc, quantum equidem intellego, causa non videtur fuisse mutandi nominis. Praeterea sublata cognitione et scientia tollitur omnis ratio et vitae degendae et rerum gerendarum. Eadem nunc mea adversum te oratio est. Hoc non est positum in nostra actione. At iste non dolendi status non vocatur voluptas. Miserum hominem! Si dolor summum malum est, dici aliter non potest. Quodsi ipsam honestatem undique pertectam atque absolutam.
Huic mori optimum esse propter desperationem sapientiae, illi propter spem vivere. Atqui haec patefactio quasi rerum opertarum, cum quid quidque sit aperitur, definitio est. Atque haec coniunctio confusioque virtutum tamen a philosophis ratione quadam distinguitur. Hosne igitur laudas et hanc eorum, inquam, sententiam sequi nos censes oportere? Atqui iste locus est, Piso, tibi etiam atque etiam confirmandus, inquam; Claudii libidini, qui tum erat summo ne imperio, dederetur. An me, inquam, nisi te audire vellem, censes haec dicturum fuisse? Cum id fugiunt, re eadem defendunt, quae Peripatetici, verba. An vero displicuit ea, quae tributa est animi virtutibus tanta praestantia? Nullus est igitur cuiusquam dies natalis. Addidisti ad extremum etiam indoctum fuisse.
Sed in rebus apertissimis nimium longi sumus. Placet igitur tibi, Cato, cum res sumpseris non concessas, ex illis efficere, quod velis? Aliena dixit in physicis nec ea ipsa, quae tibi probarentur; Quicquid porro animo cernimus, id omne oritur a sensibus; Quorum sine causa fieri nihil putandum est. Quae cum essent dicta, finem fecimus et ambulandi et disputandi.
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Non semper, inquam; Nemo nostrum istius generis asotos iucunde putat vivere. At, illa, ut vobis placet, partem quandam tuetur, reliquam deserit. Apparet statim, quae sint officia, quae actiones.
Hoc dixerit potius Ennius: Nimium boni est, cui nihil est mali. At Zeno eum non beatum modo, sed etiam divitem dicere ausus est. Hoc loco tenere se Triarius non potuit. His singulis copiose responderi solet, sed quae perspicua sunt longa esse non debent. Cur id non ita fit? Quae tamen a te agetur non melior, quam illae sunt, quas interdum optines.
Quae similitudo in genere etiam humano apparet. Dolor ergo, id est summum malum, metuetur semper, etiamsi non aderit; Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Plane idem, inquit, et maxima quidem, qua fieri nulla maior potest. Hic Speusippus, hic Xenocrates, hic eius auditor Polemo, cuius illa ipsa sessio fuit, quam videmus. Vide, quantum, inquam, fallare, Torquate. Sin laboramus, quis est, qui alienae modum statuat industriae? Nemo nostrum istius generis asotos iucunde putat vivere. Negare non possum. Ut in geometria, prima si dederis, danda sunt omnia.
Isto modo, ne si avia quidem eius nata non esset. Dempta enim aeternitate nihilo beatior Iuppiter quam Epicurus; Quam ob rem tandem, inquit, non satisfacit? Eorum enim est haec querela, qui sibi cari sunt seseque diligunt. An potest, inquit ille, quicquam esse suavius quam nihil dolere? Quicquid porro animo cernimus, id omne oritur a sensibus; Quo plebiscito decreta a senatu est consuli quaestio Cn. Beatus sibi videtur esse moriens.
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Quae quo sunt excelsiores, eo dant clariora indicia naturae. Satis est ad hoc responsum. Atqui iste locus est, Piso, tibi etiam atque etiam confirmandus, inquam; Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Non enim iam stirpis bonum quaeret, sed animalis. Ita graviter et severe voluptatem secrevit a bono. Putabam equidem satis, inquit, me dixisse. Quod non faceret, si in voluptate summum bonum poneret. Commentarios quosdam, inquam, Aristotelios, quos hic sciebam esse, veni ut auferrem, quos legerem, dum essem otiosus;
Num igitur utiliorem tibi hunc Triarium putas esse posse, quam si tua sint Puteolis granaria? Nam ista vestra: Si gravis, brevis; Nondum autem explanatum satis, erat, quid maxime natura vellet. Polemoni et iam ante Aristoteli ea prima visa sunt, quae paulo ante dixi. An hoc usque quaque, aliter in vita? His similes sunt omnes, qui virtuti student levantur vitiis, levantur erroribus, nisi forte censes Ti.
Nam quid possumus facere melius? Quamquam id quidem, infinitum est in hac urbe; Piso, familiaris noster, et alia multa et hoc loco Stoicos irridebat: Quid enim?
Satis est tibi in te, satis in legibus, satis in mediocribus amicitiis praesidii. Ergo adhuc, quantum equidem intellego, causa non videtur fuisse mutandi nominis. Huius, Lyco, oratione locuples, rebus ipsis ielunior. Non risu potius quam oratione eiciendum? Nec vero alia sunt quaerenda contra Carneadeam illam sententiam.
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Isto modo ne improbos quidem, si essent boni viri. Semper enim ex eo, quod maximas partes continet latissimeque funditur, tota res appellatur. Me igitur ipsum ames oportet, non mea, si veri amici futuri sumus. Cum praesertim illa perdiscere ludus esset. Quis animo aequo videt eum, quem inpure ac flagitiose putet vivere? Ut pulsi recurrant? Quid ait Aristoteles reliquique Platonis alumni? Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Sed ut iis bonis erigimur, quae expectamus, sic laetamur iis, quae recordamur.
Quid, si etiam iucunda memoria est praeteritorum malorum? Beatus sibi videtur esse moriens. Estne, quaeso, inquam, sitienti in bibendo voluptas? Ego vero isti, inquam, permitto. Etenim nec iustitia nec amicitia esse omnino poterunt, nisi ipsae per se expetuntur. Quae cum essent dicta, discessimus. Ac tamen, ne cui loco non videatur esse responsum, pauca etiam nunc dicam ad reliquam orationem tuam. Atqui reperies, inquit, in hoc quidem pertinacem;
Stoici autem, quod finem bonorum in una virtute ponunt, similes sunt illorum; Sic vester sapiens magno aliquo emolumento commotus cicuta, si opus erit, dimicabit. Ait enim se, si uratur, Quam hoc suave! dicturum. Tu autem inter haec tantam multitudinem hominum interiectam non vides nec laetantium nec dolentium? An tu me de L. Expectoque quid ad id, quod quaerebam, respondeas.
Intellegi quidem, ut propter aliam quampiam rem, verbi gratia propter voluptatem, nos amemus; Quod non faceret, si in voluptate summum bonum poneret. Quia nec honesto quic quam honestius nec turpi turpius. Eadem nunc mea adversum te oratio est. Tum mihi Piso: Quid ergo? Quis non odit sordidos, vanos, leves, futtiles? Semper enim ex eo, quod maximas partes continet latissimeque funditur, tota res appellatur. Obsecro, inquit, Torquate, haec dicit Epicurus?