41–50 of 70 posts
My ideal: - "jack of all trades, master of none" + "jack of many trades, master of a few"
And even if the polymath does get a job, their new colleagues will not understand them, or actively persecute them for having a broad approach.
> When I first began to study polymaths, I was excited to see a template for a life I didn’t know I was living. But when I started to embrace the polymath identity, my inner critics appeared. I wondered whether I’m even qualified to write about polymaths, let alone call myself one. Then why not just go on cultivating diverse interests -- which is really what this blog post is about, and which seems like a fine idea -…
It doesn't help that for much of the post the author seems to conflate the concept of the Aristotle-type polymath making breakthroughs in multiple unrelated fields with standard career paths [engineer, manager, teacher, founder, advisor] and transferable career skills. All of which are entirely worth pursuing without the dubious label.
Whole article resonates so thank you for putting that up. The word POLYMATH is a little clunky for non-native speakers. If you were to ask people in the streets the word GENERALIST is probably easier to understand. I experienced that with a lot of words that tend to describe a certain type/trend/box. I'm not advocating against the word just trying to raise awareness why there's people out there that would rather simp…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Strongly agree. I've been vegetarian for years, the only exception I'll make is if I go hunting with my family. If you aren't willing to kill it and clean it yourself, at least once in a while, you should probably stick to salad.
> If you aren't willing to kill it and clean it yourself, at least once in a while, you should probably stick to salad. Why? Is the idea that meat has a unique ethical component that a consumer must grapple with up close by killing and butchering? There seem to be many items we consume that have complicated and unethical production processes, but nobody goes around telling people they need to make their own cell phon…
Maybe we should.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> If you aren't willing to kill it and clean it yourself, at least once in a while, you should probably stick to salad. Why? Is the idea that meat has a unique ethical component that a consumer must grapple with up close by killing and butchering? There seem to be many items we consume that have complicated and unethical production processes, but nobody goes around telling people they need to make their own cell phon…
> but nobody goes around telling people they need to make their own cell phone or t shirt at least once in a while Maybe we should.
But do it from first principles, I want to see ore mining going on :-D
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…
> Specialization is for insects. Was going strong right up until this. Figured he was going for jack of all trades, master of one . Attacking specialization outright is just silly.
This starts out with a good analysis, but an approach that tried to change the system rather than the individual-by-individual approach it proposes would be so much more defective. We don’t just have to adapt to an increasingly brutal labor market and society. We can change it!
The model is that as a polymath, your job is to scale. You don't know as much as specialists, but you have the unique ability to appreciate the value of what they do and this provides a natural advantage in leading them and scaling their talents.
Value is the act of bringing something from one place to another. As a polymath, you have multiple repositories that are relatively deep, which you can trade ideas between. However, what I advise polymaths is that if there is one skill you should cultivate, it's smuggling, because a lot of people who are good at one thing choose gatekeeping to ensure its status, and the biggest challenge you will have is getting value past gatekeepers and the people with a stake in their decisions. To succeed as a polymath, you should learn to live as a smuggler, fugitive, insurgent, and pariah. If nothing else, it keeps the needs of others central to your thinking.
Sure, you could just live comfortably as a pet and a curiosity, stuck in someone elses cubicle, solving problems for peanut tokens and scattered applause, but if that's not satisfying, the tools to change it are already in your hands.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
only if you are vegetarian, otherwise you should be aware how the meat arrived on your table.
Strongly agree. I've been vegetarian for years, the only exception I'll make is if I go hunting with my family. If you aren't willing to kill it and clean it yourself, at least once in a while, you should probably stick to salad.