Ely, I may not fully understand your question but here goes my attempt. Are you asking whether it is possible to compartmentalize while also being illogical (irrational) within your speciality? If so, I believe the answer is yes. For example, someone could specialize in theology, astrology or alchemy without attempting to integrate these irrational beliefs to anything else. If so, the person would be guilty irrationality within the speciality as well as compartmentalization.But I think Rand/Peikoff think that the more interesting type of compartmentalization is where someone is rational within the specialized area of knowledge but fails to integrate that area with other areas of knowledge. Peikoff gives the example of the conservative economist (bottom page 127) but a more dramatic example is the character of Dr. Robert Statler in “Atlas Shrugged” who was very logical/rational in physics but failed to integrate his valid knowledge with any area dealing with people eg ethics.
