Is it better to be a generalist or a specialist? I did another post tackling this question somewhat, in the context of both professional development and formal educational settings. As I said in that post, there are advantages and disadvantages to using both approaches. But, today, I’d like to focus on how this might work with one’s hobbies – at least, when those hobbies are distinguished somewhat from professional development. That is, one of the most important aspects of a hobby is just to have fun, particularly when one’s job is stressful and demanding. And, for present purposes, being a full-time student or a stay-at-home parent would count as a job. For purposes of simplicity, I am assuming with this answer that one wants to learn something while they’re engaging in their hobbies. That is, I am assuming that, if you’re reading this particular post, you’re the kind of person who enjoys learning things of one sort or another. It’s all right if you don’t want to learn very much, but I will address this particular post to those who do. (More for those who don’t in other posts.) Being a generalist and being a specialist both involve learning some new things. Moreover, both can require some minimum aptitude and intelligence (in at least one or two particular areas) to get these things right. Thus, with that said, let me now dive into the question of whether a broader approach or a deeper approach (or perhaps some combination of the two) will give you more fulfillment in your hobbies.
The gold funerary mask of Tutankhamun, a symbol of Egyptology and Ancient Egypt
A distinction between hobbies and professional development, to simplify this discussion
Hobbies can be of many kinds. They may actually be related to your job, if that’s what you want to do. But, as traditionally defined, they’re usually considered to remain somewhat separate from “professional development.” That is, the usual definition of a hobby may be (at least partly) dependent upon what you do in your professional life, or what you’re currently studying if you’re a full-time student at a college or university. And, to be clear, I’m including trade schools and vocational schools here in my definition of “college.” I’m a big fan of vocational education, and what it can offer for our society. If you’re a professor of archeology, studying Egyptology might be helpful on a “professional development” level. But, for a certified public accountant or a successful small-business owner, Egyptology would be more likely to be classified as a hobby. To be clear, I think that this would be a cool hobby, and have myself blogged a little bit about Egyptology here. Moreover, I wish success to anyone who finds a satisfying career in something about which they’re passionate, regardless of whether it makes them any significant money. My point here is just to attempt some kind of distinction (at least informally) between hobbies and “professional development,” since these may work somewhat differently from each other. A hobby could even be in a portion of one’s own field that is different from one’s particular specialty within that field. For example, a specialist in micro-biology might choose to study some “ornithology,” or the biology of birds. They might even engage in some birdwatching when they’re out on a hike, as some of my family members are inclined to do when I accompany them into the wilderness – which is a lot of fun, by the way.
Egyptian marshland hunting scene 1422–1411 BC, which I use here to symbolize birdwatching
Generalist hobbies allow you the pleasure of trying some new things (in a word, novelty)
So what about the generalist side of things? One advantage of the generalist approach … is the novelty of being able to try new things often. This can be a lot of fun, as I can testify from my own personal experience. One might even say that, after I had graduated from college, I went through a sort of “exploratory” phase, by reading some textbooks in various subjects. In so doing, I learned some things after college that I could not have studied so easily while I was in college. These included some linguistics (which was a lot of fun), as well as the Hebrew and Greek languages. This allowed me to “scratch the itch” in my brain (to quote a movie), and learn something new. In so many ways, I’m glad that I did this. Exploration of this kind seems to be particularly helpful for the young. You can do a certain amount of this while you’re in college, but it’s a little pricey to do very much of this. If you want to try something new, there are cheaper ways to try some new things, and thus get the benefits of novelty. You can read books or news articles, listen to audiobooks or podcasts, or watch some educational YouTube videos. It’s a lot cheaper than trying to sample from the entire smorgasbord while you’re still in college.
An intro to linguistics textbook, which greatly influenced my study of linguistics
They can also help you to find out what you like or dislike, which can be invaluable
A generalist approach can also help you to find out what you like or dislike. This can be particularly helpful while you’re still young. For example, I once read a public relations textbook during the aforementioned “exploratory” phase. I was thinking that (with my marketing degree) public relations might actually be a good fit for me. But, after reading this textbook, I decided to abandon these plans, instead realizing that public relations would be a terrible fit for someone like me. Not that I have anything against public relations, but I’m on the autism spectrum – so public relations would probably have been a lousy fit for me on many levels. But I would never have known that, unless I had first undertaken to read that textbook. It was better to find this out before committing to graduate school (which I never did) – thus going into some major debt to get a degree in a rather poor-fitting field. That public relations textbook was significantly cheaper than an ill-fitting graduate program would have been. Thus, I often count my blessings that I discovered this unfortunate fact about myself sooner. After reading an introductory textbook about journalism, I’m actually grown to be somewhat grateful that I was rejected from some journalism graduate programs. It wasn’t much fun for me at the time, but it may have been the greatest thing that ever happened to me. Again, this would likewise have been a lousy fit for me, and it likewise saved me some significant time and money – especially in the long run. Incidentally, I’m even glad now that I never actually went to a graduate program of any kind, since I would have struggled under the stress of any graduate program that’s worth completing. But the details of this might be better saved for another post, which I may or may not actually write.
JFK discusses going to the moon, 1962 – a symbol of the public relations that so challenge me
Specialized hobbies allow you the satisfaction of developing true mastery at something
So what about the specialization side of things? One advantage of more specialized hobbies … is the joy of becoming a master at some worthwhile pursuit. Once you’ve decided that something is worth pursuing for you, it can be a lot of fun to achieve true mastery in that skill or subject. If you’re lucky, you might even achieve true mastery when you’re young. But most of us (including me) will only achieve true mastery in our hobbies when we’re a little older, and have gained some relevant experience. Specialization is more likely to come within your grasp … when you get to middle age or old age. This is simply because experience can help you to know what you enjoy enough to pursue any further. Even then, you may not have truly “found your passion” – although that can certainly happen, and you should count yourself fortunate if it does. But chances are that, by the time that you’re older, you’ll at least be able to rule some things out, even if they once seemed very appealing to you. And, as it turns out, ruling things out can be really useful, making you more likely to find something that really is your passion. Regardless, there’s a popular “heuristic” (or “rule of thumb”) called the Ten Thousand Hour Rule. This rule suggests that you will become a true master at something, only after you’ve put at least ten thousand hours into mastering whatever it is. This might be an oversimplification, which fails somewhat to take one’s native ability into account – not to mention the degree of effort involved in a particular hour of work. That being said, there may still be something to be said for having some experience. It seems likely that you’ll be a lot more competent than you were before, if you invest many hours into developing a particular skill or area of knowledge. As Theodore Roosevelt is supposed to have said, “Old age is like everything else. To make a success of it, you’ve got to start young.” To make this statement a little clearer, let me apply it more directly to this context. That is, if you begin developing skills or knowledge when you’re young, you’ll be more likely to have unbelievable mastery when you’re older. There’s something to be said for the wisdom that can come with experience.
Fats Waller, a classic Harlem stride pianist who influenced my own jazz piano playing
Interestingly, people also tend to take someone with “deeper” knowledge more seriously
There’s another interesting benefit to a more specialized hobby. That is, specialists in almost any area are taken more seriously than the generalists. We can truly compliment someone by saying that they’re very “broad-minded,” or that they’re a Renaissance Man or Woman. But people are likely to be perceived as being more knowledgeable, if they have also developed a reputation for “being deep” or “having depth.” This may be partly owing to what psychologists call the “halo effect.” That is, if people perceive you as being really good at something that they can readily see, they’re more likely to think (or at least guess) that you’re also good at some other things which they cannot observe so readily. Sadly, this can also work the other way. If people think that you’re grossly incompetent at something (isn’t that fun), they’re more likely to estimate that you’re similarly incompetent at other things – even if you’re actually good at them. But, if you establish a reputation for competence, whether in your hobbies or on the job, they’re more likely to take you seriously when you offer an opinion. If you’re a thought leader of any kind, it can help you to cultivate a reputation for deeper knowledge in some specific area. (I’ll disclose more about mine here.) There’s still something to be said for trying new things, even when you’re feeling advanced in years. But, if something is worth doing, chances are that it’s also worth doing well. If you know something to be a good fit for you, then you might consider developing some true expertise or skill in that thing. If you get tired of a hobby, you still retain the option of abandoning it later on – either temporarily or permanently. But, as long as it serves some useful purpose for you (psychologically or otherwise), you can find some true joy in mastering something.
Jean-François Champollion, the man who used the Rosetta Stone to decipher Ancient Egyptian
Either approach can offer you some advantages, and so can combining the two together
Thus, to recap, a generalist approach gives you the pleasure of trying new things, and finding out what you like or dislike. This can be particularly helpful when you’re young, and still trying to find out what truly fulfills you. A specialized approach allows you to achieve true mastery, and makes you more likely to be taken seriously by others. By the time that you hit middle age or old age, you’ll be better off if you’ve gained some specialized knowledge in one thing or another – whether in your hobbies, or on the job. But, in the context of hobbies, it’s still hard to provide any definitive answers about which one of these (if any) is better. To me, it seems more important that the hobby provides you some pleasure, and a welcome break from the difficulties of daily living. And there are other worthwhile hobbies that are less oriented towards learning. Physical exercise may be a good example of this, and there’s much to be said for taking good care of your body. I’m a big believer in exercise, and I’ve been trying to do it diligently for some years now. But, if you’re interested in hobbies that involve learning something, chances are that you’ll be best-served by combining aspects of both the generalist and the specialist approaches. You can go back and forth between these things as often as you like. If you need a break from a particular hobby, you can try something new for a while. And, if you feel like returning to the original hobby at some later point, chances are that you can just pick up where you left off later on. You might even experience some novelty from it again, if that’s what you want. Whatever you choose to do in your spare time, I hope that you can find some genuine fulfillment in it. My best wishes in your journey, and in finding some real satisfaction … in the “grand adventure” of life.
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