Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World

Examining common teaching practices, Epstein shows that teachers in America believe they are encouraging students to learn to think critically by asking them questions. However, Epstein argues, many teachers undermine their efforts by giving students too many hints, thus taking away the chance for the students to make cognitive leaps (and thus lasting learning) on their own. He explains this by distinguishing between two types of problems: “using-procedures problems” (which simply ask students to repeat already-learned methods or knowledge) and “making-connections problems” (which prompt students to think abstractly and apply knowledge to new situations).

Educational settings in Japan and elsewhere provide a contrasting model by which teachers do not assist students much. The concept of “desirable difficulties” refers to the idea that struggling to learn can actually be a good thing. While giving hints can help students achieve short-term success, desirable difficulties help individuals make long-term, lasting cognitive gains. Testing is another tool that can help with learning. While testing in America is usually only thought of as a chance to assess learning, Epstein argues that testing can be a tool to encourage learning. This is particularly true when the testing involves “spacing,” or distributing practice across a longer span of time, and when it involves “interleaving,” or mixing new and old content or content across multiple areas. Both practices are very different from the traditional method of “blocked practice,” in which a topic is studied and tested for a concentrated period of time before moving on to the next topic, with little or no overlap between the two.

Epstein points to evidence that supports alternative approaches to learning and testing. Studies show that students at the elite Air Force Academy, for instance, rate harder professors lower because they give less assistance to students. However, students who learn from the more difficult professors seem to retain and apply information better in the long term. Slow growth focused on providing students with desirable difficulties, Epstein argues, better prepares them to apply knowledge.

Seventeenth-century German astronomer Johannes Kepler played a key role in the discovery of gravity. Because gravity can only be observed indirectly, Kepler had to develop and express his ideas via analogies, such as comparing it to the force of a magnet. The unorthodox nature of Kepler’s approach led many of his scientific peers to critique and even ridicule his ideas, though his theories about gravity later proved to be largely correct.

Epstein attributes Kepler’s success to his ability to make creative comparisons. He cites psychologist Dedre Gentner, who believes the ability of humans to think relationally and using analogies is a key factor in their evolutionary success. According to Epstein, analogies are helpful in “wicked” settings because they facilitate thinking beyond what is traditional and familiar. For example, he notes, the methodology for using radiation to kill cancerous cells without damaging healthy tissue was explained through analogies to firefighting and military battles.

In another example, Epstein explains how students were asked to study a hypothetical business problem case of the fictional software company the Mickey Company. Students who were given comparisons between the Mickey Company and other technology companies like Apple and Dell were less adept at solving the Mickey Company’s problems than those students who were provided comparisons to non-technology companies like Nike and McDonald’s. The ability to look at issues from the “outside view,” as Kepler did, can be a boon to problem solving and creativity. Too much of an “inside view,” Epstein suggests, harms organizations and individuals by making their thinking static and ill-equipped to handle new, unexpected, or complex problems.

With these positive aspects of analogical thinking and the outside view in mind, Epstein praises initiatives like the Integrated Science Program, which teaches students to think across scientific disciplines rather than only training them in a single science, like biology or chemistry.