The great state : essays in construction / by H.G. Wells [and others].

Date:
1912
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The great state : essays in construction / by H.G. Wells [and others]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    At the present time there is far too general an acquiescence in the specialisation of individuals. Common people are dazzled by the brilliant light often focussed by the specialist on his specialty: they forget the worlds which, lying beyond the range of his imaginative grasp, the specialist cannot realise. And they fail to understand that a community of specialists must inevitably lack collective vision and understanding by reason of the inco-ordination of its units. The specialist may take you nearer the Great State in all sorts of ways, but it is very doubt- ful if he will ever get you or himself there. No attempt is being made to study the possible reac- tions of specialisation on the human mind. One thinks of specialists who are secretive and cunning, of specialised business men who prefer to work behind the scenes and who delight in letters that are ‘private — and confidential.’”’ One thinks of the artful bureau- cratic expert and the dull but crafty and intriguing diplomat. How far is all this ‘‘foxiness’’ mere co- incidence, and how far is it a necessary characteristic of specialisation? This is but one of a countless number of such questions that must be answered on our way to the Great State. For his own part the writer cannot conceive any sort of Great State that will endure a year, where education, where tradition, does not first make its citizen a gentleman, and then,,in a relation entirely secondary, a specialised worker. | But already this discussion of specialisation has