No field of study can advance significantly unless outsiders bring their knowledge and experience to that field of study.

The speaker contends that one field would develop rapidly only bring some knowledge and experience outside this field. I agree with this point of view. With the development of academic development and technology, cross-disciplinary of study has become an important approach in academian . Only through studying from more angles, and from more disciplines, can we know overall domain deeply. And with the achievements from other fields, we can research them and get more insights and inspirations which let us to develop one field quickly.

   First of all, cross-disciplinary fields of study have led to a lot of new discoveries. The inclusion of varied fields to the study of any problem provides greater insight and comprehension. It also prevents the unmitigated influence of one predominant idea that may in fact be untrue either in the current or previous context. For example, with the development of mathematics, economists found some theories were useful and helpful to the development of economics. Mathematician John Nash’s theory Nash equilibrium theory had be found by economists to better understand problems of competition and cooperation among agents or players. So,  Nash’s mathematical theory propelled   the development of economics quickly. Another example also can lend credence to my point of view. X-ray had a profound impact in its own field of medicine, yet it was invented by a German physicist.  This invention based on another discipline is now a medical technology that we find indispensible. Whether broken bones, cancerous growths, and tooth decay , this invention by a physicist is helping our everyday life.

 Secondly, Some domains have created powerful tools that could be used in any domain. For example, the advent of the computer has provided tools that help biologists understand genomics, economists understand economics, and pharmaceutical researchers invent new drugs. As a result, we can except that in the future no field of study can significantly advance without involving other domain experts to bring in their knowledge and experience.

 Thirdly, although cross-disciplinary is very important today, I think if ones want to make great contribution to a certain field, the first and most important thing is to master all its foundational knowledge. Just as Franklin Roosevelt said: “he must ever be receptive and sensitive to the new: and have sufficient courage and skill to face novel facts and to deal with them.”

 From what has been discussed, I believe cross-disciplinary is very common and universal in today’s academic field. Only through borrow the achievements from other field, can we get clear cognition of one certain field. If one just ignores other fields’ developments, he/she will have a much more difficult time to advance a discipline. And if one wantedto advance a certain field, the precondition is he must master all the knowledge in his/her realm.  After that, he/she should study other domains to expand his/her horizons.