Critical judgment of work in any given field has little value unless it comes from someone who is an expert in that field.

In spite of the reality that nowadays knowledge of different fields has divided so much that one easily gets too frustrated by his own major to step into another one, the cross-link among disciplines is more intensive than ever. There is no denying that an expert of one field is capable of giving constructive judgement of works in that field. Yet opinions from outside can sometimes generate unexpected inspirations and even bring about revolutionary changes to the whole field. Nonetheless, significance of such opinions differs in various disciplines.

In the study of nature science, although expert skills are required at early stage, it is the challenging of authority and deviation from conventions that makes groundbreaking discoveries. Having been engaged in a specific branch for too long, an experienced researcher is no longer capable of getting rid of limitations easily. In this case, judgement from outside tends to compensate for it. Erwin Schordinger, the extraordinary physicist of quantum mechanics made a series of intriguing lectures discussing the essence of life, which merely triggered his interest at leisure. Nonetheless, his inspiring ideas edified many young scientists such as James Watson and Francis Crick and even led them to the epochal discovery of DNA double helix. Accordingly, in scientific research, judgement from other fields sometimes displays irreplaceable importance in achieving breakthroughs.

Apart from nature science, works of liberal arts also request critical judgments from outside. As is well acknowledged, art derives from life and is higher than life. Thus individuals capable of appreciating artistic works own the ability of presenting critical judgments. Not having been influenced by many classic literatures, Shakespeare’s plays widely applied popular episodes and styles, which were regarded as heterodoxy by aristocracy at that time but favored by common people. As is proven later on, judgement of populations can authentically reveal and even direct the trend of arts development. Therefore the importance of opinions from non-artists should never be disdained.

Admittedly, judgement from outside plays an crucial role in many fields, some subjects can hardly benefit from it. Mathematics, for instance, seems so abysmal for most individuals that it is unlikely to get inspirations or valuable instructions from any other subjects. Rene Descartes would not have invented analytic geometry with any assistance of a chemist. Albert Einstein could have hardly referred to the opinion about his theory from a biologist. Hence, the significance of judgments from outside depends on the characteristics of each field.

Conclusively, experts tend to be limited in their experience, meanwhile critical judgement of work coming from outside may generate unanticipated influence to a field and thereby plays an irreplaceable role, yet its importance varies in distict disciplines.