Hello my field daisies!
As you know I decided to rewatch Breaking Bad, a decision that has lead to great joy and nostalgia. I forgot how incredibly awesome this show is. Today I wanted to talk about something that popped into my head as I watched the show: people can be so well versed in one subject but have no clue about anything else.
For example, in S2E9, 4 days out, Walter, played by Bryan Cranston, takes a look at his PET CT scan and thinks the white spot on this right lung is a sign that his cancer has spread. Because of his coughing, he believes he only has weeks to live, which prompts him to lie to Jesse, convincing him that methylamine spoils, so that they can spend 4 days cooking as much meth as possible. Jesse, who is not the brightest bulb, decides to leave the key in the ignition which drains their battery. After many desperate attempts to jump the battery, they finally give up. This is when Jesse prompts Walt to think of a brilliant idea to make a battery using chemistry, giving off enough juice to restart the car and saving them from dying in the middle of nowhere.
But it turns out the white blob was not cancer but radiation pneumonitis, a common side effect of radiation therapy that can be fixed with some prescription medication. Walt may be the master of chemistry, but when it comes to cancer he has no idea about how to treat it and what the symptoms are. Only their doctor can really tell them what’s happening.
Everybody is different, and specialize in different skills. Some people are book smart, and some people are street smart. Skinny may not know how to spell, but he knows how to move mad crystal.
Walter knows so much about chemistry, which makes him so entertaining to watch. But he doesn’t know the first thing about taking drugs or drug dealing. The above gif is not from Breaking Bad. It’s from Malcolm in the Middle, but I thought it represented my point quite nicely.
Walt is just now breaking bad. He makes many costly mistakes and has to save himself and Jesse many times. Indeed that’s one of the appeals of the show, Walt pulling himself out of nail bitting situations.
It’s amazing how much we live in ignorance. We think we know it all, but in reality we only specialize in one or two things. Our worldview is so narrow in comparison to the knowledge that is out there in the world.
As I prepare for the GRE, I am contemplating what I want to do in graduate school. What is going to be my life long specialization? I love media, and I believe that is the path I want to take. Digital media is what fascinates me the most, and I could see myself being a Media Studies professor one day.
But who knows? Maybe I’ll decide to drop the whole thing and pursue acting.
So what’s your specialization? What are you good at/want to be good at? Leave it in the comments below!
Love ya’ll and thanks for reading!
Hope you have a daisyish day!