MENTAT GENERALISTS

Thinking you knew something
Is a sure way to blind yourself
Thinking you knew something
Is a sure way to blind yourself
Thinking you knew something
Is a sure way to blind yourself
Thinking you knew something
Is a sure way to blind yourself

It was not growing up
That slowly applied
The brakes to learning
But an accumulation

Of things I know
Things I know
It was not growing up
That slowly applied
The brakes to learning
But an accumulation
Of things I know

Above all else
The Mentat
Must be a generalist
Not a specialist
It is wise to have decisions
Of great moment
Monitored by generalists
Experts and spеcialists
Lead you quickly into chaos
They are a sourcе
Of useless nitpicking
The ferocious quibble over a comma
The Mentat generalist
On the other hand
Should bring to decision making
A healthy common sense
He must not cut himself off
From the broad sweep
Of what is happening
In his universe
He must remain capable of saying
There's no real mystery about this
At the moment
This is what we want now
It may prove wrong later
But we'll correct that
When we come to it

[Chorus]
Thinking you knew something
Is a sure way to blind yourself
Thinking you knew something
Is a sure way to blind yourself
It was not growing up
That slowly applied
The brakes to learning
But an accumulation
Of things I know
Things I know
It was not growing up
That slowly applied
The brakes to learning
But an accumulation
Of things I know

The Mentat generalist
Must understand
That anything
Which we can identify
As our universe
Is merely part
Of larger phenomenon
But the expert looks backward
He looks into the narrow standards
Of his own specialty
The generalist looks outward
He looks for living principals
Knowing full well
That such principals change
That they develop
It is to the characteristics
Of change itself
That the Mentat generalist must look
There can be no permanent catalog
Of such change
No handbook or manual
You must look at it
With as few preconceptions
As possible
Asking yourself
Now what
Is this thing doing?

[Chorus]
Thinking you knew something
Is a sure way to blind yourself
Thinking you knew something
Is a sure way to blind yourself
It was not growing up
That slowly applied
The brakes to learning
But an accumulation
Of things I know
Things I know
It was not growing up
That slowly applied
The brakes to learning
But an accumulation
Of things I know

I set my mind in motion
It is by the juice of Sapho
That thoughts acquire speed
The lips acquire stains
The stains become a warning
It is by will alone
I set my mind in motion
It is by will alone
I set my mind in motion
It is by the juice of Sapho
That thoughts acquire speed
The lips acquire stains
The stains become a warning
It is by will alone
I set my mind in motion