interested in taking over the world as I am.
For some reason, that admission brought a tear of joy to my eye.

To be a generalist is to accept risk. It is not for everyone (or everyone's family). There comes a point in the career where regardless of the disciplines required for a proposal - we realize anything is solvable - and it becomes an issue of how much pain we are willing to endure to make the delivery. It rarely becomes a question of a deep underlying knowledge of a particular technology.

In the end, extremes should be avoided, the truth lies somewhere in the middle, and bad advice is just that, no matter the source.

Wise beyond your years Mr Boyd!