W4P1: Orgins of Polymathy

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Angela_Cotellessa/publication/331210839_In_Pursuit_of_Polymaths_Understanding_Renaissance_Persons_of_the_21st_Century/links/5c6c5cc4299bf1e3a5b633b4/In-Pursuit-of-Polymaths-Understanding-Renaissance-Persons-of-the-21st-Century.pdf

pages 1-46

J. H. Van’t Hoff had a hypothesis that “the greatest scientists, unlike their less able colleagues, displayed their imaginative ability outside of science as well as within it”

Polymath(s) or polymathy: The word polymathḗs, equivalent to polymaths in English, first appeared around the year 1615 in Greece, with poly meaning “many” and mathḗs deriving from the word manthánein which means to learn; so a polymath is someone with many learnings (Dictionary.com). The term ‘polymath’ has been in use since the Renaissance and refers to very learned scholars who were distinguished not only by their unique genius in particular fields of interest, but also by their noteworthy ability to traverse different fields of specialization and to sometimes see their interconnections (MacLachlan, 2009). A similar 24 notion, multi-disciplinarity, draws upon knowledge from different disciplines (Choi and Pak, 2006). Polymaths who pursue different areas of knowledge tend to understand things more broadly, developing an appreciation for a variety of different fields, and also are able to enjoy the experiences afforded to them across those various fields (Lang, 2014).

There is some evidence to indicate that polymaths become that way due, in part, to their environment. For instance, a number of studies have shown that there is little correlation between creativity and being innately gifted or talented; instead, the studies indicate that creative people are more broadly trained, have more avocational interests, and show increased abilities in those interests than the average individual does (RootBernstein, 2015).

Given it seems possible that polymathy may be fostered in individuals—rather than simply being an inborn trait—it is worth understanding the phenomenon even more, since there can be great benefits to polymathic thinking and skills.

The renaissance encouraged interdisciplinary study, they “took pleasure in wide-ranging, learned discourse and what they called ‘improvement’” (Ross, 2011, p. 412). In contrast, today's society is one that emphasizes specialization, partially because of how wide the expanse of human knowledge has become, and partially due to the systematic, assembly line approach to work introduced by the industrial revolution.

“The university institution is largely monolithic and path-dependent, perpetuating discipline-based scholarship and sometimes creating new niches that are even more specialized. Such hyper-specialization expands exponentially, often without an integrative moment” (Terjesen and Politis, 2015, p. 151)

Most academic journals also lack multi-disciplinarity, and if they do, it tends to be in fields that are different but closely related, like accounting and finance (Terjesen and Politis, 2015). As a general rule—whether inside academia or not—disciplinary specialization is common in our time (Ross, 2011). It is somewhat counterintuitive that this would be the case given the myriad examples throughout history of polymaths’ extraordinary contributions to the world

Leonardo da Vinci "was able to jump between all of these fields to make valuable contributions when they were still young sciences…he bridged the gap from one profession to another when it suited his curiosity and his insights.” (Smith, 2014, p. 58-59)

Although the dominant paradigm we currently experience in the 21st century is focused on singular discipline-based scholarship, the problems of the world require more multi-disciplinary approaches to solve them (Terjesen and Politis, 2015)

Some examples 45 of problems that will need multi-disciplinary solutions include addressing “sustainable development challenges such as climate change, widespread poverty, and gender inequality…cancer, terrorism, unemployment, AIDS, cybersecurity, and sustainable energy” (Terjesen and Politis, 2015, p. 152-153)

Complexity Theory: problems are more than a sum of their parts and naturally contain aspects from more than a single area of study, thus, an understanding of all of the systems behind a problem is required to solve it.

Multi-disciplinarity provides benefits to society as well as individuals (Terjesen and Politis, 2015). For example, generalists are better at forecasting what will happen in the future (Tetlock and Gardner, 2015)

Individuals can also experience professional and personal benefits from being polymathic. For example, researchers who are too specialized are less likely to get promoted (Leahey et al., 2010), whereas those who work in various disciplines tend to 46 receive more citations (Leahey, 2007)

Multi-disciplinarity also gives way for new linkages and creativity to emerge; indeed, knowledge in one discipline can often inspire or be applied to other disciplines (Terjesen and Politis, 2015)

the most successful scientists, including 4 different Nobel laureates, tended to be engaged in the fine arts or an avocation around crafts when compared to their less successful counterparts (Root-Bernstein, Bernstein, & Garnier, 1995)