Why Some People Are Impossibly Talented
1–10 of 24 posts
Re: Why Some People Are Impossibly Talented
#2From the introduction:
Polymaths excel in multiple fields. But what makes a polymath – and can their cross-discipline expertise help tackle some of society’s most pressing challenges?
Re: Why Some People Are Impossibly Talented
#3Yeah but the article overlooks the many polymaths who spread themselves thinly across a variety of different fields, never achieving true mastery of a particular field. The phrase 'Jack of all trades, master of none' springs to mind. There are however polymaths who achieve mastery of all the fields they choose to pursue, although I imagine they are rare.
Re: Why Some People Are Impossibly Talented
#4Yeah but the article overlooks the many polymaths who spread themselves thinly across a variety of different fields, never achieving true mastery of a particular field. The phrase 'Jack of all trades, master of none' springs to mind. There are however polymaths who achieve mastery of all the fields they choose to pursue, although I imagine they are rare.
[deleted]
Re: Why Some People Are Impossibly Talented
#5Yeah but the article overlooks the many polymaths who spread themselves thinly across a variety of different fields, never achieving true mastery of a particular field. The phrase 'Jack of all trades, master of none' springs to mind. There are however polymaths who achieve mastery of all the fields they choose to pursue, although I imagine they are rare.
I guess the question is: would these people be significantly better at any of these fields, if they specialised more? That seems like an open question to me.
My personal experience as a jack-of-all-trades is that if I try to specialise, I dry up creatively and get less effective.
Re: Why Some People Are Impossibly Talented
#6Yeah but the article overlooks the many polymaths who spread themselves thinly across a variety of different fields, never achieving true mastery of a particular field. The phrase 'Jack of all trades, master of none' springs to mind. There are however polymaths who achieve mastery of all the fields they choose to pursue, although I imagine they are rare.
The articles mentions a criteria that to be a PolyMath one has to make to make at least a major contribution in three different fields. For someone to make a major contribution, by definition they are an expert in that field, therefore there are a fewer people number of Polymaths vs those who are considered as "Jack of all trades".
Re: Why Some People Are Impossibly Talented
#7[dead]
Re: Why Some People Are Impossibly Talented
#8[deleted]
Re: Why Some People Are Impossibly Talented
#9Yeah but the article overlooks the many polymaths who spread themselves thinly across a variety of different fields, never achieving true mastery of a particular field. The phrase 'Jack of all trades, master of none' springs to mind. There are however polymaths who achieve mastery of all the fields they choose to pursue, although I imagine they are rare.
I guess the question is: would these people be significantly better at any of these fields, if they specialised more? That seems like an open question to me. My personal experience as a jack-of-all-trades is that if I try to specialise, I dry up creatively and get less effective.
I recently found out about the concept of “scanner personality”, which covers what you mention (I’m also a “sufferer” of it). If I specialise (too much) I feel constrained and dry up creatively as well.
Re: Why Some People Are Impossibly Talented
#10Yeah but the article overlooks the many polymaths who spread themselves thinly across a variety of different fields, never achieving true mastery of a particular field. The phrase 'Jack of all trades, master of none' springs to mind. There are however polymaths who achieve mastery of all the fields they choose to pursue, although I imagine they are rare.
The articles mentions a criteria that to be a PolyMath one has to make to make at least a major contribution in three different fields. For someone to make a major contribution, by definition they are an expert in that field, therefore there are a fewer people number of Polymaths vs those who are considered as "Jack of all trades".
I don't think even Einstein fits by that definition. An instrument as a hobby hardly is a contribution. Da Vinci is probably one of the closest I can think of by that definition and even he said something like "tell me if anything ever was done" since he felt like he never managed to finish anything properly