Intellectual growth requires deliberately studying difficult subjects, not passive consumption. The best generalists are those with deep expertise in at least one field, which builds the mental flexibility to tackle new challenges. Continuous, disciplined learning prevents intellectual stagnation.
Grow intellectually by reading, by studying, by going and doing things that are very, very hard to do. That's going to be the way that you work your muscle up in your brain. And that is, I think, something not nearly enough people do. People say things like it's better to be a generalist than to be an expert because you get to adapt and whatever. But I gotta tell you, like, the more you know, the more knowledge you have, and the more you exercise your brain through working on hard subjects, The more you're able to adapt to all those situations. I find that the best generalist, the best adapter, is someone who has put in the work to become expert in one or ideally more fields. That person has built the muscle that will make them more equipped to be able to handle the next thing that comes around. You don't want to be sclerotic about your knowledge. The whole point is to continue the practice of learning, because learning itself is the discipline that will be the most important, and that means that that's study.
