

We Need More Polymaths - acmeyer9
http://www.alexcmeyer.com/posts/we-need-more-polymaths-1

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Nadya
New word for my vocabulary: polymath

I was confused when "knowing a broad array of mathematics" wasn't the focus.
The article ended and I paused to ask myself "what did this have to do with
polymaths?" \- Trying to follow my intuition from "polyglot" to "polymath"
failed me here.

I think the article is fairly succinct and well-written. To the extent people
should become specialized is a concern.

The idea is striking a balance between specialists and polymaths. Polymaths
can benefit for society as much as specialists can - as the shared examples of
"combining two ideas to invent something new" shows. If you invent something
new, _people can specialize in that new field_ and improve upon it and build
from it.

Both are equally valuable and equally self-serving as well as society-serving.
It's what the individual values that matters the most.

I'm an autodidact and would consider myself a polymath, or at least interested
in learning many fields well above a "generalized" level - but not quite at a
specialists' level. A jack-of-all-trades approach.

~~~
acmeyer9
Glad I could add to your vocab :)

I agree, at the society level there needs to exist both those that specialize
and those that create new things. I tried addressing this in the essay, though
going beyond that I do think on the individual level having a broad knowledge
base will help in many walks of life, not just your job/career. Therefore,
learning multiple disciplines even at a basic level is better than not.

