Consilience

Nowadays i am getting lot interested in behavioral economics, psychology and finance. In fact, but you can say behavioral xxx. Game theory is another area of interest, but more of that in a separate post.

I just started reading a book called 'More than you know: Finding

Financial Wisdom in Unconventional places" by Michael J. Mauboussin.  i have quoted a few snippets from the first chapter here.

"More than you know's core premise is simple to explain, but devilishly difficult to live: you will be a better investor, executive, parent, friend- person - if you approach problems from a multidisciplinary perspective.

The reality is that the majority of us end up with pretty narrow slices of knowledge. Most occupations encourage a degree of specialization, and some vocations like academia, insist on it. And there are the time constraints. We are all so busay talking on the phone, answering emails, and going to meetings that we don't have any time left to read, think, and play with ideas."
 
I came across a new word 'consilience' in this book.
 
Quoting from what Maubossin has to say about this word. "I adapted the title from Biologist Edward O. Wilson's  celebrated book, consilience, because no other word explain this idea as well. Consilience literally means the 'jumping together' of knowledge. Wilson argues that we can unify knowledge across diverse disciplines- physics, biology, economics,  and the arts, for instance at a fundamental level.  Indeed, you have to think across disciplines to deepen your understanding of how things work. So More than you know celebrates learning about the world with an eye toward building and refining the best possible analytical tool box".

I need to understand how this word 'consilience' is different from the word 'syncretism' meaning 'The union (or attempted fusion) of different systems of thought or belief (especially in religion or philosophy)'.

I will share more from the book once i complete it . I end with the below quote from the book "Consilience".

"A balanced perspective cannot be acquired by studying disciplines in pieces, but through pursuit of the consilience among them. Such unification will come hard. But i think it is inevitable. Intellectually it rings true, and it gratifies impulses that rise from the admirable side of human nature. To the extent that the gaps between the great branches of learning can be narrowed, diversity and depth of knowledge will increase."

Edward O. Wilson, Consilience