31. Being a Polymath

Recently I was watching some documentaries related to biographies of certain prominent people in the medieval times. A common theme occurred in my observation.

For example, In Newton’s Biography, Newton was a

• Mathematician

• Philosopher

• Theologist

• Scientist

• Physicist

• Government worker

• Mint Master etc.,

Similarly, Leonardo Da Vinci was a

• Artist

• Anatomist

• Engineer

• Inventor

• Architect

• Cartographer etc.,

  
  

If we consider, Shakespeare, he was

• Playwright

• Actor

• Poet

• Theatre owner and Entrepreneur etc.,

The point is – they defined their life and perhaps education was an enabler to them. In contrast to this very important idea, in current times – at least for the majority of the younger ones, the education that happens early in the life seems to define what they ought to become!  And the current salary/professional trends and not the very important passion/talent seem to be guiding the students as what to choose. The enveloping group setup/society has to be blamed for this malaise. It seems to have deviated from the fundamental thing that – sustenance/support for living in the form of job, security, fundamental rights etc., should be a guaranteed thing for all of the population and not just for artists and poets.

Can any government guarantee the below –

“Citizens, please follow your passion and interest while in pursuit of excellence and chose any area of a study and follow any profession that you like. We, as a responsible government will guarantee you that you will find a job meeting your knowledge, skills, talent and education”

Such a statement will make sense only if –

• Standard for minimum quality of living is set and defined with a continuous improvement mindset

• Universal basic income policy is implemented

• Wealth caps – for personal and business, is set in the constitution

• Fundamental rights are solidly enshrined in an iron-clad constitution

In current times, a person takes a particular path/subject of study, explores its depth and width, and even builds a spectacular career out of his education; but perhaps he/she does not look around or pursue other interests (except as hobby).

When I say other areas of interest, as an example, I mean having a degree in both quantum physics and in optometry or any of the biological science etc.,

An able administrator of city can do better if he understands economy.

A very good doctor can do better of he is a mental health counsellor.

An architect can do better if he is also a musician.

An MLA or MP can do better if he understands social psychology and so on and so forth.

We have to remind ourselves that a polymath can be made from both - academic study and experience!

We, as a society, seem to be not promoting the chance of allowing the students to bloom into a Polymath (a person of wide knowledge or learning) after their high school years.

Being a polymath allows the following advantages:

• Inspiration from several knowledge areas

• In cutting edge research and innovation, cross cutting ideas will flourish for a polymath

• A polymath may not have any artificial guiderails/limits imposed by his formal education. Thus through his knowledge in one area of excellence, he may solve problems/issues in other areas of work.

• Being a polymath perhaps, gives a person, more maturity and wisdom and may also guide him to be a highly balanced person in life. Thus he is expected to be an ideal citizen, not just bettering his life, but living the life of a person with potential to better the lifes of people in the society that he is part of.

So, we as a progressive society, should do the following to make life more meaningful and enjoyable.

• Allow students to pursue any subjects of interests besides their core subjects and recognize it formally

• Identify a student’s latent potential/talent/passion and suggest a group of studies that he can go through that will enable a resounding success in this career. To that extent, degrees of colleges, should be customizable.

• Even at work, either government sponsored or privately sponsored lateral study programs should be promoted and recognized. I think that, sometimes, as an example, say after a decade as a research assistant/back-office worker, a person can become more balanced/enriched if he changes his career and become a community policy officer. Are our societies that much flexible?

• We should have a culture, where learning as a cultural tenet, should not stop till we take our last breath. I believe that even in a normal death, in the final moments, we learn something about the process of death!