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The Polymath Playbook

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Re: The Polymath Playbook

#21

Post by froh »

geocrasher wrote: post #11

There's a site called https://puttylike.com/ that calls it a "multipotentialite" and in the gal's Ted talk she makes us out to be victims. That, I don't like- but I do like the premise of most of what she's saying otherwise. Being a generalist only means you get to explore whatever's fancy today, and because you've defined yourself as eternally undefined, nobody generally cares.

I don't get the victim part.

https://www.ted.com/talks/emilie_wapnick_why_some_of_us_don_...

Emilie Wapnick is very positive and encouraging to allow yourself to love doing several things.

The only cautious part is about 'culture' focusing on specialization, and not encouraging the pursuit of seemingly unrelated paths.

Is that what you were referring to?

Re: The Polymath Playbook

#22

Post by yeezyseezy »

trentnix wrote: post #5

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyse a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. — Robert Heinlein, Ti…

I swear Heinlein reuses this in Stranger in a Strangeland. Maybe he was an anti-specialization specialist.

Re: The Polymath Playbook

#23

Post by sradman »

> The answer lies in modern society’s preference for specialization.

Yet modern society also has a preference for a broad liberal arts education. Like bundling/unbundling and reductionism/synthesis, there seems to be an ongoing ebb and flow between multi-disciplinary and specialized skills driven by the value add.

Re: The Polymath Playbook

#24

Post by _nalply »

Attention: Nerd Snipe.

The Ikigai graph should be painted on a torus because we need to see two additional intersections. Let's try to name them:

- What you LOVE and What you can be PAID FOR: Delightful Bullshit Job

- What you are GOOD AT and What the world NEEDS: Useful Self-Sacrifice

Or do you have a better idea?

And: how should we color them to have nice, meaningful shades of colors?

Edit: Thanks for BlackFingolfin to point out that a sphere's not good enough.

Re: The Polymath Playbook

#25

Post by BlackFingolfin »

_nalply wrote: post #24

Attention: Nerd Snipe. The Ikigai graph should be painted on a torus because we need to see two additional intersections. Let's try to name them: - What you LOVE and What you can be PAID FOR: Delightful Bullshit Job - What you are GOOD AT and What the world NEEDS: Useful Self-Sacrifice Or do you have a better idea? And: how should we color them to have nice, meaningful shades of colors? Edit: Thanks for BlackFingolfi…

Actually I don't think you can paint that on a sphere without overlap... you'll need to paint it on a torus ;-)

Re: The Polymath Playbook

#26

Post by _nalply »

BlackFingolfin wrote: post #25
_nalply wrote: post #24

Attention: Nerd Snipe. The Ikigai graph should be painted on a torus because we need to see two additional intersections. Let's try to name them: - What you LOVE and What you can be PAID FOR: Delightful Bullshit Job - What you are GOOD AT and What the world NEEDS: Useful Self-Sacrifice Or do you have a better idea? And: how should we color them to have nice, meaningful shades of colors? Edit: Thanks for BlackFingolfi…

Actually I don't think you can paint that on a sphere without overlap... you'll need to paint it on a torus ;-)

Hah, you got me!

Re: The Polymath Playbook

#28

Post by FredWFlintstone »

I think biologically we evolve to be polymaths. Only after humans formed complex societies we have opportunities that sustainably reward specialization. And there is probably very little genetic reinforcement of modern specialization. Don't have my own experience but from what I see, family life of a polymath seems much more rewarding and with a lot of genetic reinforcement. The Revenant might be a good example of 2 stages of evolving human societies where one totally rewards Polymaths and in other you probably want to start being a specialist.

Re: The Polymath Playbook

#29

Post by person_of_color »

woofie11 wrote: post #7
thinkingkong wrote: post #3

So under this definition I too am a polymath but so are most of my colleagues. Some of the smartest engineers Ive ever met have wildly different hobbies outside of engineering or software. Boating. Baking. Triathlons. Music. But the most successful people do one thing, 100% in an all consuming way before flipping into another. Theyre the best bakers. Have sailed the furhest distances, written the best songs, and post…

This is the way to do it. Done well, a 5-year deep dive can make you a world-class expert in most things. Do that, and then move onto the next thing, bringing that skillset along. It goes faster every time too. It turns out there are lots of overlaps. Linear algebra and differential equations are (roughly) the same in electronic engineering, quantum mechanics, or mechanical engineering, and where they're not is where…

> A half-dozen HN articles a day.

Time to block it.

Re: The Polymath Playbook

#30

Post by emmanueloga_ »

_nalply wrote: post #24

Attention: Nerd Snipe. The Ikigai graph should be painted on a torus because we need to see two additional intersections. Let's try to name them: - What you LOVE and What you can be PAID FOR: Delightful Bullshit Job - What you are GOOD AT and What the world NEEDS: Useful Self-Sacrifice Or do you have a better idea? And: how should we color them to have nice, meaningful shades of colors? Edit: Thanks for BlackFingolfi…

this made me laugh so hard... brilliant observation :-D

Here's a pseudo-symmetrical Venn diagram for four sets, as an alternative representation :-) [1]

1: https://www.combinatorics.org/files/Surveys/ds5/VennSymmVari...

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