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.

Two of those phrases, which have been reading for quite a while and never understood the meaning are "a well rounded person" and "building character".

Care to explain this to me?

[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.

[nostrademons → rsepassi]

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.

[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.