--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The range of human knowledge today is so…" description: "\"The range of human knowledge today is so great that we're all specialists and the distance between specializations has become so great that anyone who ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a0/robert-m-pirsig-817_closeness_the-range-of-human-knowledge-today-is-so_2016944.jpg" --- # The range of human knowledge today is so great that we're… ![“The range of human knowledge today is so great that we're all specialists and the distance between specializations has become so great that anyone who seeks to wander freely between them almost has to forego closeness with the people around him.” quote by Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a0/robert-m-pirsig-817_closeness_the-range-of-human-knowledge-today-is-so_2016944.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a0/robert-m-pirsig-817_closeness_the-range-of-human-knowledge-today-is-so_2016944.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1a0/robert-m-pirsig-817_closeness_the-range-of-human-knowledge-today-is-so_2016944.jpg) > “The range of human knowledge today is so great that we're all specialists and the distance between specializations has become so great that anyone who seeks to wander freely between them almost has to forego closeness with the people around him.” [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Specialization has expanded so much that deep expertise isolates people, making interdisciplinary wandering difficult without sacrificing close relationships. **In simple terms:** Deep expertise can isolate people from each other. Key Takeaway Balance expertise with community connection. Themes specialization interdisciplinary isolation community balance Mood reflective concerned Type philosophical observational When to use this quote - academic research - career development - personal relationships - team projects Key Concepts knowledge fragmentation social cohesion Questions to Reflect On - How can we maintain deep knowledge while staying socially connected? - What structures help bridge gaps between fields? A Different Perspective Specialists may struggle to relate to non‑experts, limiting collaboration. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Closeness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/closeness/) [Human knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-knowledge/) [Knowledge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowledge/) [Specialization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/specialization/) ## Related quotes > [“Imagine if one should drag an innocent passer-by from the street to the operating room of a nearby hospital and force him at gunpoint…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erik-von-kuehnelt-leddihn/imagine-if-one-should-drag-an-innocent-passer-by-from-the-street-to/) [Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erik-von-kuehnelt-leddihn/) > [“Intellectually curious men become generalists. Intellectually lazy men settle for being specialists.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/intellectually-curious-men-become-generalists-intellectually-lazy-men/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [The trouble with specialists is that they tend to think in grooves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elaine-morgan/the-trouble-with-specialists-is-that-they-tend-to-think-in-grooves/) [Elaine Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elaine-morgan/) > [Perhaps the inevitable tragedy of our complex civilization is that we must be specialists in our fields - and our fields have become increasingly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/perhaps-the-inevitable-tragedy-of-our-complex-civilization-is-that-we/) [Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/) > [“A specialist’s mind is a slave to his specialization.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/a-specialist-s-mind-is-a-slave-to-his-specialization/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“I spent most of my life trying to specialize myself. 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Prove that you’re serious about specialization by turning down work that falls outside your area of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-warrillow/don-t-be-afraid-to-say-no-to-projects-prove-that-you-re-serious-about/) John Warrillow > [“Rex has never been unkind to me intentionally. It's just that he isn't a real person at all; he's just a few faculties of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelyn-waugh/rex-has-never-been-unkind-to-me-intentionally-it-s-just-that-he-isn-t/) [Evelyn Waugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelyn-waugh/) > [Each man is capable of doing one thing well. If he attempts several, he will fail to achieve distinction in any.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/each-man-is-capable-of-doing-one-thing-well-if-he-attempts-several-he/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) ## More by Robert M. Pirsig > [“And from time to time you find your “county road” takes you onto a two-rutter and then a single rutter and then into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/and-from-time-to-time-you-find-your-county-road-takes-you-onto-a-two/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [“I started to roll over for more sleep but heard a rooster crowing and then became aware we are on vacation and there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/i-started-to-roll-over-for-more-sleep-but-heard-a-rooster-crowing-and/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [The Buddha, the Godhead, resides quite as comfortably in the circuits of a digital computer or the gears of a cycle transmission as he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/the-buddha-the-godhead-resides-quite-as-comfortably-in-the-circuits/) [Robert M. 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Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [There is a perennial classical question that asks which part of the motorcycle, which grain of sand in which pile, is the Buddha. Obviously…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/there-is-a-perennial-classical-question-that-asks-which-part-of-the/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [“Of the value traps, the most widespread and pernicious is value rigidity. This is an inability to revalue what one sees because of commitment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/of-the-value-traps-the-most-widespread-and-pernicious-is-value/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [“Historically mystics have claimed that for a true understanding of reality metaphysics is too “scientific”. Metaphysics is not reality. Metaphysics is names about reality.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/historically-mystics-have-claimed-that-for-a-true-understanding-of/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [“What’s emerging from the pattern of my own life is the for belief that the crisis is being caused by the inadequacy of existing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/what-s-emerging-from-the-pattern-of-my-own-life-is-the-for-belief/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [To speak of certain government and establishment institutions as 'the system' is to speak correctly . . . They are sustained by structural relationships…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/to-speak-of-certain-government-and-establishment-institutions-as-the/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [If a revolution destroys a systematic government, but the systematic patterns of thought that produced that government are left intact, then those patterns will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/if-a-revolution-destroys-a-systematic-government-but-the-systematic/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [The only Zen you can find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/the-only-zen-you-can-find-on-the-tops-of-mountains-is-the-zen-you/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [Only social patterns can control biological patterns, and the instrument of conversation between society and biology is not words. The instrument of conversation between…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/only-social-patterns-can-control-biological-patterns-and-the/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) > [Even in the presence of others he was completely alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-m-pirsig/even-in-the-presence-of-others-he-was-completely-alone/) [Robert M. Pirsig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) [Explore all 351 Robert M. Pirsig quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-pirsig/) ## More Closeness quotes > [How could they say that they truly loved each other? They had simply grown up together, been children together, and the proximity of it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-guterson/how-could-they-say-that-they-truly-loved-each-other-they-had-simply/) [David Guterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-guterson/) > [You can't find any true closeness in Hollywood, because everybody does the fake closeness so well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carrie-fisher/you-can-t-find-any-true-closeness-in-hollywood-because-everybody-does/) [Carrie Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carrie-fisher/) > [“How long has it been since you and me? Hugs and kisses. Blankets and snuggles. Our sparks smoldering without a fireplace. Losing time is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/2019-fidelis-o-mkparu/how-long-has-it-been-since-you-and-me-hugs-and-kisses-blankets-and/) 2019 Fidelis O Mkparu > [“I'd watch his smooth chest rise and fall with each steady breath, I'd watch the pulsating of his stomach when he laughed, and I'd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-newell/i-d-watch-his-smooth-chest-rise-and-fall-with-each-steady-breath-i-d/) [Ashley Newell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-newell/) > [Jesus Christ does not teach us a spirituality “of closed eyes”, but one of “alertness”, one which entails an absolute duty to take notice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-benedict-xvi/jesus-christ-does-not-teach-us-a-spirituality-of-closed-eyes-but-one/) [Pope Benedict XVI](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-benedict-xvi/) > [This is really skin privilege, the ranking of color in terms of its closeness to white people or white-skinned people and its devaluation according…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/this-is-really-skin-privilege-the-ranking-of-color-in-terms-of-its/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [Daily fervent prayers seeking forgiveness and special help and direction are essential to our lives and the nourishment of our testimonies. When we become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-l-staheli/daily-fervent-prayers-seeking-forgiveness-and-special-help-and/) Donald L. Staheli > [Somewhere we know that without silence, words lose their meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-nouwen/somewhere-we-know-that-without-silence-words-lose-their-meaning/) [Henri Nouwen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-nouwen/) > [Women, understand that sex does not always equate to love, it just equates to a false sense of emotional closeness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enhance-dreams/women-understand-that-sex-does-not-always-equate-to-love-it-just/) Enhance Dreams > [The aesthetic event is something as evident, as immediate, as indefinable as love, the taste of fruit, as water. We feel poetry as we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/the-aesthetic-event-is-something-as-evident-as-immediate-as/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [“I do not know what to do with the emotions inside me. I do not know how to be this close to someone and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-renee-jones/i-do-not-know-what-to-do-with-the-emotions-inside-me-i-do-not-know/) [Lisa Renee Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-renee-jones/) > [The aesthetic event is something as evident, as immediate, as indefinable as love, the taste of fruit, of water. 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