During the 70-odd years of my professional life, I have witnessed a continuously increasing degree of specialization in major areas of cultural activity. While the growing chasm between science and the humanities may once have provided the most obvious example — a matter that concerned C. P. Snow a generation ago — the fragmentation process has extended relentlessly into what were once well-integrated fields. Few scientists under 50 are familiar with, or express much interest in, areas of research outside their immediate professional concern. Specialization within the humanities has become so pronounced that aberrant concepts, such as Black Athena, which is based on the claim that the achievements of classical Greece originated in Africa, can flourish as essentially independent, free-floating intellectual structures.
展开▼
机译：在我职业生涯的70多年中，我目睹了主要文化活动领域的专业化程度不断提高。尽管科学与人文科学之间日益增长的鸿沟曾经提供了最明显的例子（一个世代前就与C. P. Snow有关的问题），但分裂过程却一直无情地扩展到了曾经很好整合的领域。 50岁以下的科学家很少对他们直接关注的领域以外的领域熟悉或表达浓厚的兴趣。人文领域的专业化已变得如此明显，以至于诸如“黑雅典娜”之类的反常概念就以古典希腊的成就起源于非洲为依据，可以从本质上独立，自由浮动的知识结构中蓬勃发展。
展开▼
