The most important lesson in the writing trade is that any manuscript is improved if you cut away the fat.
Expertise in one field does not carry over into other fields. But experts often think so. The narrower their field of knowledge the more likely they are to think so.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Specialized knowledge doesn't guarantee competence in unrelated areas.
This quote highlights the limitation of expertise, suggesting that while someone may have deep knowledge in a specific domain, it does not necessarily imply they possess a similar level of understanding in other fields. It draws attention to the tendency of experts to overestimate the applicability of their skills and knowledge outside their area of specialization, warning against assuming that expertise in one domain translates to universal proficiency.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about interdisciplinary collaboration: 'As Robert A. Heinlein said, expertise in one field does not carry over into other fields.'
More from Robert A. Heinlein
All quotes βAn armed society is a polite society.
Democracy is a poor system of government at best; the only thing that can honestly be said in its favor is that it is eight times as good as any other method the human race has ever tried.
Long human words (the longer the better) were easy, unmistakable, and rarely changed their meanings . . . but short words were slippery, unpredictable, changing their meanings without any pattern.
Progress is made by lazy men looking for easier ways to do things.
When a place gets crowded enough to require ID's, social collapse is not far away. It is time to go elsewhere. The best thing about space travel is that it made it possible to go elsewhere.
Similar quotes
Greatness of soul consists not so much in soaring high and in pressing forward, as in knowing how to adapt and limit oneself.
Virtually all of life's ills boil down to mindlessness. If you can understand someone else's perspective, then there's no reason to be angry at them, envy them, steal from them.
In all affairs it's a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted.
I learned from my mom and dad, who didn't have a formal education but had doctorates of love. They told me that if you gave 110 percent all the time, a lot of beautiful things will happen. I may not always be right, but no one can ever accuse me of not having a genuine love and passion for whatever I do.
I believe that words are strong, that they can overwhelm what we fear when fear seems more awful than life is good.
Know, thou, that the lines that live are turned out of a furrowed brow.