A mind that is stretched by new experiences can never go back to its old dimensions – Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.
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Accomplishment in politics, journalism, history and languages is a familiar, albeit impressive, career route. But what if I told you that the same young lady was also a professional Calypso dancer, a Tony Award–nominated theatre actress and an acclaimed film director who also happened to write a Pulitzer Prize–nominated screenplay?
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Known to us as the great Maya Angelou, this poetess, playwright, author, singer, composer, dancer, actor, filmmaker, journalist, polyglot, historian and activist was a breed of multifaceted human that is now worryingly in danger of becoming extinct: the polymath.
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Humans of exceptional versatility, who excel in multiple, seemingly unrelated fields.
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Technically, the polymath usually excels in at least three seemingly unrelated fields (‘poly’ being more than two).
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Conventional manifestations of accomplishment, however, usually include any one or a combination of the following: critical acclaim, popular recognition, financial success, publication or exhibition of works, qualification or award, demonstrated skill and experience.
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In all cases the prerequisite, as mentioned earlier, is an ‘exceptional cross-domain versatility’, but the greatest, most influential, most self-actualised polymaths are essentially self-seeking, holistically minded, connection-forming humans characterized by a boundless curiosity, outstanding intelligence and wondrous creativity.
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Imhotep's newly found status and power allowed him to pursue activities beyond his conventional stately duties. His polymathic urge pushed him towards his greatest talents: architecture, medicine, spirituality, science, poetry and philosophy.
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This provided Imhotep with the opportunity to display his abilities not only as an architect, but also as a sculptor, astronomer and inventor.
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As a practising physician, architect and astronomer who also made tremendous contributions to Egyptian society and culture as a priest, inventor, poet, philosopher and statesman, Imhotep was one of the first recorded polymaths.
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A lifelong note-taker, the entire collection of Leonardo's notes forms an exceedingly wide-ranging – albeit seemingly sporadic – thesis containing investigations into philosophy, optics, geometric perspective, anatomy and aviation.
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Ultimately, excelling as a painter, sculptor, musician, stage and costume designer, inventor, anatomist, aviator, engineer, military strategist and cartographer, Leonardo was the archetypical polymath.
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Hedy Lamarr, for example, one of the most popular Hollywood film actresses in the 1940s, was also a talented inventor.
Nicolaus Copernicus was a clergyman, economist, painter, polyglot, diplomat, physician and lawyer in addition to becoming the father of modern astronomy whose heliocentric theory revolutionised the way astronomers viewed the universe for centuries to come.
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So a great leader is not merely a bold decision-maker, but a holistically informed decision-maker, one who is able to understand the significance of context and have a sense of perspective.
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Experts in highly specialized fields can be part of a team’, he admits, ‘but the team leader needs to bridge multiple disciplines’.
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Theodore Roosevelt, excelled at judo and boxing and then did stints as a policeman, soldier, explorer, farmer and hunter before taking public office at the age of 42 and ultimately becoming one of America's greatest ever leaders.
An exceptionally fast learner, he would eventually become conversant in over 20 languages – making him one of the foremost polyglots of the twentieth century.
In the physical sciences, he studied and wrote observations on anatomy, astronomy, embryology, geography, geology, meteorology, physics and zoology.
In philosophy, he wrote on aesthetics, ethics, government, metaphysics, politics, economics, psychology, rhetoric and theology. He also studied and made important observations on education, foreign customs, literature and poetry.
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Karl Marx drew upon his clearly wide-ranging knowledge of economics, politics, sociology, history, literature and psychology in order to formulate ‘laws of capitalism’ (notably analysed in Das Kapital);
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Adam Smith too had a rounded knowledge of various subjects including physics, astronomy, law, history and metaphysics (he wrote important essays on each), all of which he fused to construct his hugely influential economic philosophy as articulated in The Wealth of Nations.
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Confucius, for example, was an encyclopaedic teacher of history, poetry, government, propriety, mathematics, music, divination and sports – who himself was ‘in the manner of Socrates, a one-man university’ during the Zhou Dynasty.
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Epicurus wrote 300 works of ‘self-help’ advice regarding all aspects of practical life including his On Love, On Justice, On Nature and On Human Life.
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Agnesi was a mathematician, physicist, philosopher, theologian and polyglot who was recognised as a prodigy for her ability to learn Italian, French, Greek,
Hebrew, Spanish, German and Latin at an early age. She published Propositiones Philosophicae, a series of essays on philosophy and natural science.
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The ‘polymathic professor’ in early twentieth-century Britain was then typified by Bertrand Russell, whose knowledge of politics, history, language, mathematics and religion (primarily Christianity) as well as various branches within philosophy – best demonstrated by his magnum opus A History of Western Philosophy – cemented his position as one of the leading all-round, comprehensive philosophers in modern history.
Remembered chiefly as the Queen's charmer, he was in fact – at various points in his life – a poet, explorer, soldier, historian, politician, merchant, spy and a writer on numerous subjects.
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Aged 60, Tagore took up drawing and painting. His eclectic art, ranging from oil and chalk pastels to ink on paper, captured the interest of art critics worldwide, allowing him to hold many successful exhibitions in Europe.
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He founded the ‘junto club’, a group or society of intellectuals to discuss matters of scientific and philosophical enquiry as well as general self-improvement.
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He had a thorough grasp of all aspects of the corporation, ranging from technical engineering and artistic design to marketing and finance. His effective synthesis of these divisions and ability to, as he put it, ‘connect the dots’ allowed for the creation and growth of one of the most innovative, successful and influential corporations of the twenty-first century.
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This is probably why Aristotle said that ‘all paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind’ and Ibn Khaldun observed that conventional employment is one of the most ‘humiliating ways to make a living’.
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The point is that when conditions change, species with a wider range of capacities and better flexibility are able to adapt, while narrow-focused specialists, faced with little or no option, become vulnerable to extinction.
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Moreover, the ‘job for life’ model is becoming extinct. The threat of redundancy is increasing and chances of promotion decreasing. Work in business or the arts rarely provides a sure income.
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So rather than ‘poo-pooing’ polymaths like modern culture seems to do, we should always be thankful to God that there are some people who are able to be polymaths. Otherwise everything will become separate from each other like organs of a body with no integrating principle, without which the body will fall apart.
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Individuality – Understanding oneself
Curiosity – Continuous, boundless enquiry Intelligence –
Nurturing, exercising and optimising various abilities
Versatility – Moving seamlessly between different spheres of knowledge and experience Creativity – Connecting and synthesising seemingly disparate fields for a creative outcome Unity – Unifying various strands of knowledge for greater clarity and vision of the whole
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Individuality is essentially a question of restoring, recognising and realising human dignity as well as the affirmation of free will.
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British educationalist Ken Robinson insists that the focus of an individual should be on those areas where talent or capacity meets passion or desire; it is at this intersection, as proven time and time again, where success brews.
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It is not surprising then that most polymaths over history have been autodidacts.
Autodidacts, ‘people who prefer to teach themselves or to pick up knowledge from non-teaching situations in one way or another’ recognise the limits of standard educational systems and autonomously pursue what they consider to be of interest and value to them.
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The third-century Chinese sage Ko Hung proclaimed that ‘what one knows is but little in comparison with what he does not know.
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Confucius, who said that ‘real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance’;
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This means our knowledge of fields as diverse as economics, politics, science, philosophy, psychology, religion, history and mathematics ought to be ever increasing.
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This is confirmed by American psychologist Keith Simonton, who insists that an exceptionally high intelligence is strongly associated with the polymath: ‘IQ is associated not only with increased fame, but also with assets such as superior versatility.
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His multiple intelligences include musical-rhythmic, visual-spatial, verbal-linguistic, logical-mathematical and bodily-kinaesthetic.
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George Plimpton was an avid birdwatcher, fireworks enthusiast, actor, journalist, literary critic and amateur multi-sportsman who recorded his experiences of participating in professional competitions in American football, ice hockey, baseball, tennis, boxing and even bridge and high-wire circus performing!
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Life is not short. Indian intellectual Khushwant Singh, who died recently in his 100th year, was active to the very end and had successful sequential careers as a lawyer, diplomat, historian, politician, novelist and journalist.
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Before the standard age of retirement, the average person has up to eight five-year periods in their working lives. This means that theoretically one can have eight successful careers in completely different fields, sequentially, without any overlaps.
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In 1926, psychologist Catherine Cox found through her research that the more creative an individual was, the more varied their interests.
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When asked about which from acting, poetry, music and painting was his favourite, artistic polymath Viggo Mortensen replied: ‘I don't really separate them; they are all the same thing’.
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Diversifying your knowledge is one thing. Unifying it, performing a masterful synthesis to bring about a vision of the whole is another.
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In summary, the hedgehog ‘knows one big thing’ whereas the fox ‘knows many little things’.
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The world henceforth will be run by synthesizers, people able to put together the right information at the right time, think critically about it, and make important choices wisely’.
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Indeed a burgeoning ‘ideas industry’ that includes conferences, web portals and podcasts that host a range of speakers from different fields (such as Idea City, Lift, Big Think, RSA, Intelligence Squared, Jo Rogan Experience, Tim Ferriss, London Real) play an important role in encouraging the expansion of mind and development of the self.
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Methods of intellectual exploration such as critical thinking, creative thinking, contextual thinking, speed-reading, emotional intelligence, decision-making, internalisation and mental resilience ought to be a greater pedagogical focus than mere ‘information transmission’.
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In order to keep up with the world of 2050, you will need not merely to invent new ideas and products – you will above all need to reinvent yourself again and again’.
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Pursuing several careers at the same time is a way of thriving and being true to our multiple selves’.
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Azeem Ibrahim juggles some 40 projects simultaneously, which include businesses, charities, academic institutions and non-profit organisations.
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Whereas before, individuals would become polymaths because they were philosophers, we have recently begun to see individuals become philosophers because they were polymaths.
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Hollywood actor Viggo Mortensen has starred in blockbusters like the Lord of the Rings and the History of Violence. He is also an acclaimed composer who contributed to the score for the Lord of the Rings, a painter whose work has been exhibited internationally and a poet who (being a polyglot) has published in several languages.
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Chomsky says curiosity, open-mindedness and critical thinking are the timeless attributes necessary for a polymathic mindset.
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For Dunlap, polymathy is essentially a kind of ‘portfolio of specialisations’
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Isakhanli believes that to qualify as a true polymath, one must convert one's knowledge into some form of demonstrably creative output.
Albert Magnus (thirteenth-century Germany) – Teacher to polymath Thomas Aquinas;
age 287 | Location 5572-5574 | Added on Saturday, July 18, 2020 5:18:54 PM
Cicero (first-century BC) – Marcus Tullius Cicero, who enjoyed equal acclaim as a politician, lawyer, and orator as well as a scholar of language, philosophy, and political science.
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