Psycho-neurological thoughts about Synthesis

We've put a lot of time and thought into why some people are most comfortable as specialists, while others (like the "bridges" at SRI I described a few days ago) seem less comfortable in a specialist role. One theory I have, which is call the Type M/N theory, is based on the basic belief that people get a brain-reward from learning (we wouldn't make it to adulthood otherwise!). However, the intensity of the reward is based on the type of learning.

I believe that most people get the biggest boost from learning that increases their mastery of their chosen field; I call these people Type M for Mastery (by the way, I'm hoping I can come up with a better name - any ideas out there?). These (Type M) people tend today, and in fact have always tended for thousands of years) to specialize and to become more and more comfortable in their specialties; while today they may become astrophysicists or tort lawyers, in earlier days they may have become archers or barrel-makers.

Another, much smaller group of people get the biggest boost from learning that's new (i.e., that broadens their knowledge, not deepens it); I call these people Type N for New (again, I could use better names!). These (Type N) people tend today to become unhappy specialists (as there just aren't very many jobs for generalists), often with a lot of hobbies to exercise their love of new learning. In earlier times Type N people may have become tinkers (masters of many trades) or shamans/druids (loosely, thinkers and learners for a tribe of people who don't have time to spend thinking and learning in their subsistence economy).

Obviously, there is no solid line between Type M and Type N characteristics; we all have some of each. However, I would stipulate that perhaps 95% of all people are predominantly Type M by the time their adults (and can be very comfortable because the need for specialization is such that we can use their Type M characteristics to advance those specialties). The other 5% are predominantly Type N, and (as I mentioned before) either less happily in a specialist role or, if they are very lucky, have found a niche where they can comfortably do work as a generalist or at least a specialist whose work demands more-frequent new learning.

(If it's not obvious, I count myself as a Type N. For most of my career, I've been a specialist; by dint of some effort, I found work for the last several years in parts of the IT world - which itself tends to require more "new" learning than most fields by virtue of rapid technological change - that required me to learn completely new skills and knowledge on a relatively frequent basis.)