deepstash
Beta
Deepstash brings you key ideas from the most inspiring articles like this one:
Read more efficiently
Save what inspires you
Remember anything
11
Key Ideas
Save all ideas
... is someone who becomes competent in at least 3 diverse domains and integrates them into a top 1-percent skill set.
In another words, they bring the best of what humanity has discovered from across fields to help them be more effective in their core field.
Specialists, on the other hand, just focus on knowledge from their own field.
549 SAVES
1.45k READS
Even if you're merely competent in these skills, combining them can lead to a world-class skill set.
Example: Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert, one of the most popular comic strips of all time, was not the funniest person, not the best cartoonist, and not the most experienced employee. But by combining his humor and illustration skills while focusing on business culture, he became the best in the world in his niche.
449 SAVES
1.00k READS
Most creative breakthroughs come via making atypical combinations of skills.
Researcher Brian Uzzi, a professor at the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management, analyzed more than 26 million scientific papers going back hundreds of years and found that the most impactful papers often have teams with atypical combinations of backgrounds.
427 SAVES
942 READS
It’s easier and faster than ever to become competent in a new skill. The quality of knowledge in every domain is improving and there is an abundance of free or affordable content from the world’s top experts in every medium you can think of.
Example: 13-year-old Michael Sayman taught himself how to code via Google. One of his mobile games became one of the top 100 apps in the world, beating out Starbucks and Yelp.
419 SAVES
883 READS
415 SAVES
772 READS
A polymath can take the skills that she or he has learned and combine them in new ways quickly to master new fields.
On the other hand, a specialist whose fields becomes obsolete would likely take much more time to adapt to the change and have to start back at the beginning.
388 SAVES
686 READS
Being a polymath sets you up to solve more complex problems. Many of the largest problems that face society and individuals benefit from solutions that integrate multiple disciplines.
353 SAVES
683 READS
The relevance of supply and demand to the job market, to goods and services, to the world of ideas, and to many other places means that you can have the most valuable skill set in the world, but if everyone also has that skill set, then you’re a commodity.
Self-made billionaire Peter Thiel, asks prospective candidates, “What’s the one thing you believe is true that no one else agrees with you on?” This simple question very quickly tells you whether or not you have rare and valuable ideas.
398 SAVES
691 READS
Specialists build up a narrow skill set and reputation and become highly paid for it, but they become fragile as their professions disappear or evolve.
Changes to the environment make polymaths stronger. As new paradigms of business emerge or their passions grow, they can quickly combine their existing skill sets in a myriad of ways.
385 SAVES
854 READS
"Study the science of art. Study the art of science. Develop your senses — especially learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else."
Leonardo Da Vinci
601 SAVES
1.33k READS
Polymaths have existed forever (they are often the ones who’ve advanced Western civilization more than any others ) but they’ve been called different things throughout history:
Philosopher king: Aristotle, Marcus Aurelius, Archimedes.
Renaissance person: Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Galileo Galilei.
Gentleman scholar: Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams.
Polymath: Marie Curie, Isaac Newton, Theodore Roosevelt.
Modern polymath: Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg.
416 SAVES
1.03k READS
SIMILAR ARTICLES & IDEAS:
5
Key Ideas
The new reality of success: embracing a diverse range of skills and experiences to thrive in the increasingly complex world.
Great men like Benjamin Franklin, Steve Jobs and Leonar...
In this age, make yourself indispensable by being ‘pretty good’ in two or more skillsets, making yourself among the top 25 percent with some amount of effort. That’s easier than putting in 10,000 hours in one skill to attain mastery.
Taking the example of Scott Adams, the creator of the Dilbert comic strip and the author of many books. He is not the best cartoonist, and not the funniest person. However, he can draw better than many of us, and is funny enough. These two skill sets (1 and 1) create a talent stack and become 11, instead of 2.
It’s never been easier to learn new skills than in the present age. One can become a polymath by simply identifying the key skill sets that are doable and interesting (depending on one’s background and inclination) and learning them by taking up online courses. It’s not about the degree or certification, but the actual learning.
Example: If you are a programmer, you could become a polymath by learning about User Experience and Design of applications.
4
Key Ideas
Polymaths, geniuses with diverse skillsets and varied interests, are the source of some of history's greatest contributions.
Giants like Aristotle, Galileo, and Leonardo da Vinci were...
A polymath sees the world with a unique perspective, making connections that are not apparent to others.
Early polymaths had the advantage of a wide-open field, and went deep in their disciplines, yielding branches and sub-branches of specializations. Deep down, these different branches lead to the same trunk and roots.
Polymaths differ from specialists, as they are on to a highway that is getting wider, and specialists are parked in a spot that is getting deeper.
Polymaths have the advantage of learning new fields of study, and forming new connections, while specialists start having a narrow vision by going deep, learning less. The learning ability of the polymath is the required skill-set of the future.
7
Key Ideas
A Polymath is defined as one who is specialized in at least two unrelated fields or domains while having a passive interest in other domains too. They are individualists that hold a holistic view o...
When polymaths become interested in something, they don't care which domain or sphere it leads them. Some qualities of a Polymath person:
“The polymath not only moves between different spheres or different fields and disciplines, but seeks fundamental connections between those fields, so as to give them a unique insight into each of them.”