I have a feeling that both are needed. Darwin was certainly capable of thinking about the big picture, but he was a details type of person, spending years backing up his theory, and only publishing when he did because of Wallace and Lyell.
Perhaps the difference between someone who is purely detail, and someone who also has a big picture is the selection of which detail.
Take programming.
Person A studies C in great detail, and perhaps C++ and C#. They submit patches for the GCC compiler.
Person B knows enough to program code in every language under the sun, but does not know enough about any of them to be certain of security, efficiency or obscure bugs.
Person C knows bits about systems administration, gathering user requirements, user interface design testing, perl scripting, database optimisation, java serverlets, writing device drivers in C for unix, LISP proof checkers, cryptography. They don't know as many languages as person B and they don't have the same encyclopeadic knowledge of a particular language as person A, but they do have highly detailed knowledge of 2 or 3 areas and they know how much or little knowledge they do have about each area.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Perhaps the difference between someone who is purely detail, and someone who also has a big picture is the selection of which detail.
Take programming.
Person A studies C in great detail, and perhaps C++ and C#. They submit patches for the GCC compiler.
Person B knows enough to program code in every language under the sun, but does not know enough about any of them to be certain of security, efficiency or obscure bugs.
Person C knows bits about systems administration, gathering user requirements, user interface design testing, perl scripting, database optimisation, java serverlets, writing device drivers in C for unix, LISP proof checkers, cryptography. They don't know as many languages as person B and they don't have the same encyclopeadic knowledge of a particular language as person A, but they do have highly detailed knowledge of 2 or 3 areas and they know how much or little knowledge they do have about each area.