Nikola Tesla fits this all to well. He was a genius in an very narrow subject and rejected the ideas of his peers in his field. He didn't believe electricity was made of subatomic electrons and it all came from an either. He was even trying to use the Earth as a wireless energy transmitter when it is a grounding source.
Too many people believe that a person really good in context A will be good in context B to Z. Or the Shaolin Monk Fallacy, just because you can do push ups with two fingers and swing a staff does not mean you are instantly good with a pool cue or tennis racket.
Perhaps not instantly good, but there's obviously major skill transfer between domains. In physical domains this is easy to see and understand with countless demonstrations of professional athletes who decide to swap sports and reach a professional level in the new sport with relative ease. And I think the exact same is true in mental domains.
World class expertise in some mental field is not achieved solely by knowledge within that field, but by a distinct ability to process and apply information in a novel way. And that skill is highly transferrable to other fields. Of course you still need to then accumulate information in said other field, which is why it's not instantaneous, but if a world class individual in one field puts their energy towards mastery of another field, I certainly would not bet against their success!
I’m not sure it’s really about skill transfer outside of very related areas. You need to be genetically lucky to hit the very top of a physical or mental field and the odds you have similar gifts in a field with slightly different demands is far higher than average.
Similarly having the drive to actually dedicate yourself to some narrow area could be considered a skill but I think it’s more a personality trait.
By "skill" I'm referring to something far more fundamental, perhaps trait would have been a better word. For instance sports are largely about athleticism, hand eye coordination, strength, and so on. And these all are largely transferrable. Similarly in mental domains I'm referring more about the ability to accumulate and process information while also using it as a tool think more outside the box, than as an ends in and of itself.
Are you saying that a rifle shooter could easily pivot to darts or pool, and a swimmer could just as easily move to baseball? Or a body builder could take on a rock climber because they are in the domain of "Sports"?
All sports have different muscle memory training and thought processes.
"Or the Shaolin Monk Fallacy, just because you can do push ups with two fingers and swing a staff does not mean you are instantly good with a pool cue or tennis racket."
Too many people believe that a person really good in context A will be good in context B to Z. Or the Shaolin Monk Fallacy, just because you can do push ups with two fingers and swing a staff does not mean you are instantly good with a pool cue or tennis racket.