Hubris, Nemesis, and the Need for Master Generalists in a Complex World

Mary Midgley’s reinterpretation of the Greek concepts of Hubris and Nemesis offers a powerful lens for understanding human behavior in today’s intricate world. Hubris—overweening pride or overconfidence—drives individuals, organizations, and nations to overstep boundaries, disrupting delicate balances. Nemesis, as Midgley frames it, is not simply punishment but the inevitable consequence that restores equilibrium, completing a cycle initiated by hubris. This interplay is increasingly evident in our modern era, where the complexity of global systems challenges the dominant paradigm of specialization.

The real world is governed by the interplay of the seven elements of power—Diplomatic, Information, Military, Economic, Financial, Intelligence, and Law Enforcement (DIMEFIL). These elements are not isolated; they form a dynamic web where actions in one domain ripple across others. Yet, our expert-driven society fails again and again to account for this interconnectedness, relying instead on narrow specialists whose hubris in their "expertise" blinds them to the broader picture. To survive the "Eternal War" and to thrive in the "Infinite Game"—metaphors for the ceaseless, evolving nature of competition at every scale—we need master generalists: individuals with deep, proven knowledge and experience within each element and the ability to navigate their intersections. This following explores why our current regime’s hubris demands nemesis and why a shift toward highly capable generalism is absolutely essential.

The Complexity of the Real World: The Interplay of DIMEFIL

The seven elements of power are the building blocks of influence:

• Diplomatic: Shaping alliances and negotiations to advance interests.

• Information: Acquiring superior information and shaping narratives and data to sway public and elite opinion.

• Military: (Martial) Deploying security force and deterrence assets and operations to secure strategic objectives.

• Economic: Leveraging trade, resources, and markets to sustain willing support of citizens.

• Financial: Influencing and manipulating monetary systems and sanctions to reward or punish.

• Intelligence: Gathering high quality, timely and actionable covert insights to inform decision-making.

• Law Enforcement: (Legal) Countering internal, external and transnational threats like insurgency, crime and terrorism.

These elements are deeply interdependent. A diplomatic breakthrough might rely on economic concessions, while a military campaign’s success hinges on intelligence accuracy and information dominance. Financial sanctions can destabilize economies, prompting diplomatic retaliation or military posturing. This complexity creates a system where linear predictions falter, and unintended consequences abound.

Specialists, however skilled, struggle to grasp this holistic reality. A diplomat might negotiate a treaty without foreseeing its economic fallout, while a military strategist might ignore the informational backlash of a campaign. In today's world, national power isn't just about military might. It's about how you weave together diplomacy, information, economics, and more. Siloed thinking is a recipe for disaster. A comprehensive understanding of DIMEFIL’s interplay is not a luxury—it’s a necessity.

The Limitations of an Expert-Driven World

Specialization drives progress by deepening knowledge in specific fields, but it comes with a cost. Experts, entrenched in their domains, virtually always succumb to hubris, believing their mastery extends beyond their silos. This overconfidence blinds them to the interconnectedness of systems, leading to decisions that unravel when exposed to the real world’s complexity.

For instance, economic policymakers design sanctions to cripple a rival’s finances, only to trigger a liquidity crisis and recession they didn’t anticipate. In technology, engineers perfect a platform’s functionality while ignoring its informational impact, as seen in the unintended spread of behavioural manipulation via social media. Specialists are great, but they often miss the forest for the trees. We need more people who can connect the dots across fields.

This limitation is compounded by institutional stovepiping. Governments, investors, corporations, and academia reward depth over breadth, siloing information and expertise. The result is a collective hubris—a false confidence that fragmented knowledge can address holistic challenges. History offers stark warnings: the 19th-century British Empire, despite its economic and military specialists, faltered in colonial management due to a lack of integrative understanding across cultural, diplomatic, and informational domains. Just as the United States, the direct successor of the British Empire has increasingly done since the second world war.

The Eternal War and the Infinite Game: A Call for Master Generalists

Global competition is an "Eternal War"—a relentless struggle without a final victory—and an "Infinite Game," where the goal is not to win but to keep playing. Drawing from James Carse’s Finite and Infinite Games, this metaphor highlights a world where rules evolve, players shift, and adaptability trumps rigid strategies. The seven elements of power are the tools of this game, and their interplay defines its course.

Master generalists are uniquely suited to this arena. They possess:

• Broad Knowledge: A working grasp of all DIMEFIL elements.

• Cross-Disciplinary Skills: The ability to synthesize insights across domains.

• Systems Thinking: A holistic view of causes and effects.

• Practical Experience: Proven success navigating complex intersections.

Consider Leonardo da Vinci, a quintessential master generalist whose work spanned art, engineering, and science, enabling innovations that specialists alone could not achieve. In modern times, a leader like Elon Musk exemplifies this by blending economic, technological, and informational strategies across industries. Global competition is an infinite game. There are no winners or losers, just players who adapt and endure. Master generalists thrive in this environment because they see the whole board.

Specialists, by contrast, risk tunnel vision. A military victory might be pyrrhic if it destabilizes economic alliances, as seen in the Iraq War’s long-term costs. Master generalists anticipate such cascades, making them indispensable in an infinite game.

Hubris in the Expert-Driven Regime and the Rise of Nemesis

Our expert-driven regime brims with hubris, as leaders and institutions over-rely on specialized knowledge while dismissing integrative perspectives. This arrogance has birthed crises—nemesis in action—across multiple domains:

• Economic Collapse: The 2008 financial crisis stemmed from economists and bankers who trusted complex models while ignoring systemic risks. The 2008 financial crisis was a classic case of hubris. Economists and bankers thought they had it all figured out, but their models ignored systemic risks. Nemesis followed.

• Military Quagmires: In Afghanistan, military experts prioritized tactical gains over diplomatic and informational strategies, prolonging conflict. Afghanistan showed the limits of military expertise. We focused on tactical wins but ignored the diplomatic and informational dimensions. Hubris led to a quagmire.

• Public Health Failures: During the COVID-19 pandemic, health experts pushed lockdowns without fully weighing economic and social fallout, exacerbating inequality and unrest.

These examples echo Midgley’s insight: nemesis is not vengeance but a natural correction to hubris. The more we double down on specialization, the more severe the consequences—crises that integrative thinking could mitigate. The 21st-century hubris of Financialism and deindustrialization, ignoring economic limits, now manifesting as delegitimized regime nemesis, a lesson in the perils of narrow focus.

Toward a Generalist Future

Breaking this cycle demands a paradigm shift toward master generalists. Education must evolve, emphasizing interdisciplinary curricula—think STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) over STEM alone. Professions need value cross-functional experience, rewarding those who bridge silos. Institutions and investors must foster collaboration across DIMEFIL, dismantling barriers that entrench hubris. We need to rethink education. Interdisciplinary learning should be the norm, not the exception. The world is too complex for siloed knowledge.

The infinite game of global competition favors those who see the whole board. By cultivating master generalists—humble, adaptable, and integrative—we can temper hubris and avert nemesis. In a world of complexity, survival hinges not on the depth of one skill, but on the breadth of many, wielded with wisdom. One note, takes a very long stretch of years of careful and deliberate study and hands on experience to become a true generalist. And even then, to maintain the status of a master generalist, one must spend hours a day in study, conversation and thought.

Do you have what it takes to be a generalist or master generalist in your local area, in your community? We need high quality generalists or our hubris will most certainly ensure the nemesis may well finally end our civilization.