

Ask HN: What exactly is a well rounded person? - rick_2047

I have more often than not failed to understand some social terms which are used to describe a person in many a places.<p>Two of those phrases, which have been reading for quite a while and never understood the meaning are "<i>a well rounded person"</i> and "<i>building character</i>".<p>Care to explain this to me?
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rsepassi
Well-rounded often means the person seems generally capable of tackling a
broad range of activities, though they may not be stellar at any one. A guy
who does well in school, plays sports, can mingle well, has a good group of
friends, etc. Balanced, normal, etc. Used in this sense, it's a pretty poor
compliment and doesn't seem to be a description that one should strive to
achieve. What exactly is this "well-rounded" person good at? Yes, you may want
to be versatile and generally comfortable in a wide variety of situations, but
you definitely want to kick ass at a narrower set of activities.

Building character is often used to justify grueling tedious work, regardless
of its merits/value. Done right, building character would consist of valuable
activities that improved upon an important skill or helped people. That is,
one builds character by learning and by overcoming obstacles on the way.

These are basically two phrases that could be used to signify positive
attributes/activities, but are usually used in stupid ways.

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nostrademons
Keep in mind that the idea that one "definitely wants to kick ass at a
narrower set of activities" is very much cultural, and there're many people
(particularly outside of the coastal urban professional population) that think
it's a pretty stupid goal. Most people define themselves by their
relationships; they couldn't care less whether you happen to be awesome at one
specific skill.

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al05
They are stock phrases, most people ignore them. It's like adding buzzwords to
a business plan.

What they are meant to mean is that you developed in a wide range of areas,
such as academics skills and social skills.

An example of someone not complying to this is the derogatory stereotype such
as someone who just knows how to code, and has no social skills.

But really ignore it.

