Collectively smarter/Individually dumber?

Is this the age of the generalist? I wonder if we have become collectively smarter but individually ‘dumber’?

Dumber here actually means we don’t need to specialize as much, we can become generalists. You don’t need deep knowledge of one subject.

I was talking to the legend Tyler Ward about this a while ago on Twitter, I said I would write something then forgot.

What I mean is the internet has given us the ability to go wider, to have surface-level knowledge on more topics. It has also allowed us to go deeper quickly/more tailored when looking for an answer.

You don’t need to be an expert, you just need to find the answer to your specific question. Find the right code library, find the right Reddit forum, find the right legal advice…

You don’t need to specialize.

You can know a little about a lot. Then when you need detail, the internet lets you crowdsource intelligence quickly.

Has the internet made us collectively smarter but individually dumber?