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Polymath

A polymath (Greek: πολυμαθής, romanizedpolymathēs, lit.'having learned much'; Latin: homo universalis, lit.'universal human')[1] is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems.

Benjamin Franklin is one of the foremost polymaths in history. Franklin was a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer and political philosopher. He was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.

In Western Europe, the first work to use the term polymathy in its title (De Polymathia tractatio: integri operis de studiis veterum) was published in 1603 by Johann von Wowern, a Hamburg philosopher.[2][3][4] Von Wowern defined polymathy as "knowledge of various matters, drawn from all kinds of studies ... ranging freely through all the fields of the disciplines, as far as the human mind, with unwearied industry, is able to pursue them".[2] Von Wowern lists erudition, literature, philology, philomathy, and polyhistory as synonyms.

The earliest recorded use of the term in the English language is from 1624, in the second edition of The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton;[5] the form polymathist is slightly older, first appearing in the Diatribae upon the first part of the late History of Tithes of Richard Montagu in 1621.[6] Use in English of the similar term polyhistor dates from the late 16th century.[7]

Polymaths include the great scholars and thinkers of the Renaissance and Enlightenment, who excelled at several fields in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and the arts. In the Italian Renaissance, the idea of the polymath was allegedly expressed by Leon Battista Alberti (1404–1472), a polymath himself, in the statement that "a man can do all things if he will".[8] Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz has often been seen as a polymath. Al-Biruni was also a polymath.[9] Leonardo da Vinci, Ibn al-Haytham, Rabindranath Tagore, Mikhail Lomonosov, Alan Turing, Benjamin Franklin, John von Neumann, Charles Sanders Peirce and Thomas Jefferson are other well-known and celebrated polymaths.

Embodying a basic tenet of Renaissance humanism that humans are limitless in their capacity for development, the concept led to the notion that people should embrace all knowledge and develop their capacities as fully as possible. This is expressed in the term Renaissance man, often applied to the gifted people of that age who sought to develop their abilities in all areas of accomplishment: intellectual, artistic, social, physical, and spiritual.

Renaissance man

The term "Renaissance man" was first recorded in written English in the early 20th century.[10] It is used to refer to great thinkers living before, during, or after the Renaissance. Leonardo da Vinci has often been described as the archetype of the Renaissance man, a man of "unquenchable curiosity" and "feverishly inventive imagination".[11] Many notable polymaths[a] lived during the Renaissance period, a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th through to the 17th century that began in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spread to the rest of Europe. These polymaths had a rounded approach to education that reflected the ideals of the humanists of the time. A gentleman or courtier of that era was expected to speak several languages, play a musical instrument, write poetry and so on, thus fulfilling the Renaissance ideal.

The idea of a universal education was essential to achieving polymath ability, hence the word university was used to describe a seat of learning. However, the original Latin word universitas refers in general to "a number of persons associated into one body, a society, company, community, guild, corporation, etc".[12] At this time, universities did not specialize in specific areas, but rather trained students in a broad array of science, philosophy and theology. This universal education gave them a grounding from which they could continue into apprenticeship toward becoming a master of a specific field.

When someone is called a "Renaissance man" today, it is meant that rather than simply having broad interests or superficial knowledge in several fields, the individual possesses a more profound knowledge and a proficiency, or even an expertise, in at least some of those fields.[13]

Some dictionaries use the term "Renaissance man" to describe someone with many interests or talents,[14] while others give a meaning restricted to the Renaissance and more closely related to Renaissance ideals.

In academia

Robert Root-Bernstein and colleagues

Robert Root-Bernstein is considered the principal responsible for rekindling interest in polymathy in the scientific community.[15][16] His works emphasize the contrast between the polymath and two other types: the specialist and the dilettante. The specialist demonstrates depth but lacks breadth of knowledge. The dilettante demonstrates superficial breadth but tends to acquire skills merely "for their own sake without regard to understanding the broader applications or implications and without integrating it".[17]: 857  Conversely, the polymath is a person with a level of expertise that is able to "put a significant amount of time and effort into their avocations and find ways to use their multiple interests to inform their vocations".[18]: 857 [19][20][21][22]

A key point in the work of Root-Bernstein and colleagues is the argument in favor of the universality of the creative process. That is, although creative products, such as a painting, a mathematical model or a poem, can be domain-specific, at the level of the creative process, the mental tools that lead to the generation of creative ideas are the same, be it in the arts or science.[20] These mental tools are sometimes called intuitive tools of thinking. It is therefore not surprising that many of the most innovative scientists have serious hobbies or interests in artistic activities, and that some of the most innovative artists have an interest or hobbies in the sciences.[18][21][23][24]

Root-Bernstein and colleagues' research is an important counterpoint to the claim by some psychologists that creativity is a domain-specific phenomenon. Through their research, Root-Bernstein and colleagues conclude that there are certain comprehensive thinking skills and tools that cross the barrier of different domains and can foster creative thinking: "[creativity researchers] who discuss integrating ideas from diverse fields as the basis of creative giftedness ask not 'who is creative?' but 'what is the basis of creative thinking?' From the polymathy perspective, giftedness is the ability to combine disparate (or even apparently contradictory) ideas, sets of problems, skills, talents, and knowledge in novel and useful ways. Polymathy is therefore the main source of any individual's creative potential".[17]: 857  In "Life Stages of Creativity", Robert and Michèle Root-Bernstein suggest six typologies of creative life stages. These typologies based on real creative production records first published by Root-Bernstein, Bernstein, and Garnier (1993).

  • Type 1 represents people who specialize in developing one major talent early in life (e.g., prodigies) and successfully exploit that talent exclusively for the rest of their lives.
  • Type 2 individuals explore a range of different creative activities (e.g., through worldplay or a variety of hobbies) and then settle on exploiting one of these for the rest of their lives.
  • Type 3 people are polymathic from the outset and manage to juggle multiple careers simultaneously so that their creativity pattern is constantly varied.
  • Type 4 creators are recognized early for one major talent (e.g., math or music) but go on to explore additional creative outlets, diversifying their productivity with age.
  • Type 5 creators devote themselves serially to one creative field after another.
  • Type 6 people develop diversified creative skills early and then, like Type 5 individuals, explore these serially, one at a time.

Finally, his studies suggest that understanding polymathy and learning from polymathic exemplars can help structure a new model of education that better promotes creativity and innovation: "we must focus education on principles, methods, and skills that will serve them [students] in learning and creating across many disciplines, multiple careers, and succeeding life stages".[25]: 161 

Peter Burke

Peter Burke, Professor Emeritus of Cultural History and Fellow of Emmanuel College at Cambridge, discussed the theme of polymathy in some of his works. He has presented a comprehensive historical overview of the ascension and decline of the polymath as, what he calls, an "intellectual species".[26][27][28]

He observes that in ancient and medieval times, scholars did not have to specialize. However, from the 17th century on, the rapid rise of new knowledge in the Western world—both from the systematic investigation of the natural world and from the flow of information coming from other parts of the world—was making it increasingly difficult for individual scholars to master as many disciplines as before. Thus, an intellectual retreat of the polymath species occurred: "from knowledge in every [academic] field to knowledge in several fields, and from making original contributions in many fields to a more passive consumption of what has been contributed by others".[29]: 72 

Given this change in the intellectual climate, it has since then been more common to find "passive polymaths", who consume knowledge in various domains but make their reputation in one single discipline, than "proper polymaths", who—through a feat of "intellectual heroism"—manage to make serious contributions to several disciplines.

However, Burke warns that in the age of specialization, polymathic people are more necessary than ever, both for synthesis—to paint the big picture—and for analysis. He says: "It takes a polymath to 'mind the gap' and draw attention to the knowledges that may otherwise disappear into the spaces between disciplines, as they are currently defined and organized".[30]: 183 

Finally, he suggests that governments and universities should nurture a habitat in which this "endangered species" can survive, offering students and scholars the possibility of interdisciplinary work.

Bharath Sriraman

Bharath Sriraman, of the University of Montana, also investigated the role of polymathy in education. He poses that an ideal education should nurture talent in the classroom and enable individuals to pursue multiple fields of research and appreciate both the aesthetic and structural/scientific connections between mathematics, arts and the sciences.[31]

In 2009, Sriraman published a paper reporting a 3-year study with 120 pre-service mathematics teachers and derived several implications for mathematics pre-service education as well as interdisciplinary education.[16] He utilized a hermeneutic-phenomenological approach to recreate the emotions, voices and struggles of students as they tried to unravel Russell's paradox presented in its linguistic form. They found that those more engaged in solving the paradox also displayed more polymathic thinking traits. He concludes by suggesting that fostering polymathy in the classroom may help students change beliefs, discover structures and open new avenues for interdisciplinary pedagogy.[16]

Michael Araki

Michael Araki is a professor at Universidade Federal Fluminense in Brazil. He sought to formalize in a general model how the development of polymathy takes place. His Developmental Model of Polymathy (DMP) is presented in a 2018 article with two main objectives:

  1. organize the elements involved in the process of polymathy development into a structure of relationships that is wed to the approach of polymathy as a life project, and;
  2. provide an articulation with other well-developed constructs, theories, and models, especially from the fields of giftedness and education.[32]

The model, which was designed to reflect a structural model, has five major components:

  1. polymathic antecedents
  2. polymathic mediators
  3. polymathic achievements
  4. intrapersonal moderators
  5. environmental moderators[32]
 
The Developmental Model of Polymathy (DMP)

Regarding the definition of the term polymathy, the researcher, through an analysis of the extant literature, concluded that although there are a multitude of perspectives on polymathy, most of them ascertain that polymathy entails three core elements: breadth, depth and integration.[32][33][34]

Breadth refers to comprehensiveness, extension and diversity of knowledge. It is contrasted with the idea of narrowness, specialization, and the restriction of one's expertise to a limited domain. The possession of comprehensive knowledge at very disparate areas is a hallmark of the greatest polymaths.

Depth refers to the vertical accumulation of knowledge and the degree of elaboration or sophistication of one's sets of one's conceptual network. Like Robert Root-Bernstein, Araki uses the concept of dilettancy as a contrast to the idea of profound learning that polymathy entails.

Integration, although not explicit in most definitions of polymathy, is also a core component of polymathy according to the author. Integration involves the capacity of connecting, articulating, concatenating or synthesizing different conceptual networks, which in non-polymathic persons might be segregated. In addition, integration can happen at the personality level, when the person is able to integrate their diverse activities in a synergic whole, which can also mean a psychic (motivational, emotional and cognitive) integration.

Finally, the author also suggests that, via a psychoeconomic approach, polymathy can be seen as a "life project". That is, depending on a person's temperament, endowments, personality, social situation and opportunities (or lack thereof), the project of a polymathic self-formation may present itself to the person as more or less alluring and more or less feasible to be pursued.[32]

Kaufman, Beghetto and colleagues

James C. Kaufman, from the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut, and Ronald A. Beghetto, from the same university, investigated the possibility that everyone could have the potential for polymathy as well as the issue of the domain-generality or domain-specificity of creativity.[35][36]

Based on their earlier four-c model of creativity, Beghetto and Kaufman[37][38] proposed a typology of polymathy, ranging from the ubiquitous mini-c polymathy to the eminent but rare Big-C polymathy, as well as a model with some requirements for a person (polymath or not) to be able to reach the highest levels of creative accomplishment. They account for three general requirements—intelligence, motivation to be creative, and an environment that allows creative expression—that are needed for any attempt at creativity to succeed. Then, depending on the domain of choice, more specific abilities will be required. The more that one's abilities and interests match the requirements of a domain, the better. While some will develop their specific skills and motivations for specific domains, polymathic people will display intrinsic motivation (and the ability) to pursue a variety of subject matters across different domains.[38]

Regarding the interplay of polymathy and education, they suggest that rather than asking whether every student has multicreative potential, educators might more actively nurture the multicreative potential of their students. As an example, the authors cite that teachers should encourage students to make connections across disciplines, use different forms of media to express their reasoning/understanding (e.g., drawings, movies, and other forms of visual media).[35]

Waqas Ahmed

In his 2018 book The Polymath, British author Waqas Ahmed defines polymaths as those who have made significant contributions to at least three different fields.[16] Rather than seeing polymaths as exceptionally gifted, he argues that every human being has the potential to become one: that people naturally have multiple interests and talents.[39] He contrasts this polymathic nature against what he calls "the cult of specialisation".[40] For example, education systems stifle this nature by forcing learners to specialise in narrow topics.[39] The book argues that specialisation encouraged by the production lines of the Industrial Revolution is counter-productive both to the individual and wider society. It suggests that the complex problems of the 21st century need the versatility, creativity, and broad perspectives characteristic of polymaths.[39]

For individuals, Ahmed says, specialisation is dehumanising and stifles their full range of expression whereas polymathy "is a powerful means to social and intellectual emancipation" which enables a more fulfilling life.[41] In terms of social progress, he argues that answers to specific problems often come from combining knowledge and skills from multiple areas, and that many important problems are multi-dimensional in nature and cannot be fully understood through one specialism.[41] Rather than interpreting polymathy as a mix of occupations or of intellectual interests, Ahmed urges a breaking of the "thinker"/"doer" dichotomy and the art/science dichotomy. He argues that an orientation towards action and towards thinking support each other, and that human beings flourish by pursuing a diversity of experiences as well as a diversity of knowledge. He observes that successful people in many fields have cited hobbies and other "peripheral" activities as supplying skills or insights that helped them succeed.[42]

Ahmed examines evidence suggesting that developing multiple talents and perspectives is helpful for success in a highly specialised field. He cites a study of Nobel Prize-winning scientists which found them 25 times more likely to sing, dance, or act than average scientists.[43] Another study found that children scored higher in IQ tests after having drum lessons, and he uses such research to argue that diversity of domains can enhance a person's general intelligence.[44]

Ahmed cites many historical claims for the advantages of polymathy. Some of these are about general intellectual abilities that polymaths apply across multiple domains. For example, Aristotle wrote that full understanding of a topic requires, in addition to subject knowledge, a general critical thinking ability that can assess how that knowledge was arrived at.[45] Another advantage of a polymathic mindset is in the application of multiple approaches to understanding a single issue. Ahmed cites biologist E. O. Wilson's view that reality is approached not by a single academic discipline but via a consilience between them.[46] One argument for studying multiple approaches is that it leads to open-mindedness. Within any one perspective, a question may seem to have a straightforward, settled answer. Someone aware of different, contrasting answers will be more open-minded and aware of the limitations of their own knowledge. The importance of recognising these limitations is a theme that Ahmed finds in many thinkers, including Confucius, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, and Nicolas of Cusa. He calls it "the essential mark of the polymath."[46] A further argument for multiple approaches is that a polymath does not see diverse approaches as diverse, because they see connections where other people see differences. For example Da Vinci advanced multiple fields by applying mathematical principles to each.[47]

Related terms

Aside from "Renaissance man", similar terms in use are homo universalis (Latin) and uomo universale (Italian), which translate to "universal man".[1] The related term "generalist"—contrasted with a "specialist"—is used to describe a person with a general approach to knowledge.

The term "universal genius" or "versatile genius" is also used, with Leonardo da Vinci as the prime example again. The term is used especially for people who made lasting contributions in at least one of the fields in which they were actively involved and when they took a universality of approach.

When a person is described as having encyclopedic knowledge, they exhibit a vast scope of knowledge. However, this designation may be anachronistic in the case of persons such as Eratosthenes, whose reputation for having encyclopedic knowledge predates the existence of any encyclopedic object.

See also

References and notes

  1. ^ Though numerous figures in history could be considered to be polymaths, they are not listed here, as they are not only too numerous to list, but also as the definition of any one figure as a polymath is disputable, due to the term's loosely-defined nature, there being no given set of characteristics outside of a person having a wide range of learning across a number of different disciplines; many also did not identify as polymaths, the term having only come into existence in the early 17th century.
  1. ^ a b "Ask The Philosopher: Tim Soutphommasane – The quest for renaissance man". The Australian. 10 April 2010. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  2. ^ a b Murphy, Kathryn (2014). "Robert Burton and the problems of polymathy". Renaissance Studies. 28 (2): 279. doi:10.1111/rest.12054. S2CID 162763342.
  3. ^ Burke, Peter (2011). "O polímata: a história cultural e social de um tipo intellectual". Leitura: Teoria & Prática. ISSN 0102-387X.
  4. ^ Wower, Johann (1665). De Polymathia tractatio: integri operis de studiis veterum.
  5. ^ "polymath, n. and adj.". OED Online. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Accessed December 2019.
  6. ^ "polymathist, n.". OED Online. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Accessed December 2019.
  7. ^ "polyhistor, n.". OED Online. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Accessed December 2019.
  8. ^ "Renaissance man – Definition, Characteristics, & Examples".
  9. ^ "BĪRŪNĪ, ABŪ RAYḤĀN – Encyclopaedia Iranica". www.iranicaonline.org. Retrieved 29 May 2019. BĪRŪNĪ, ABŪ RAYḤĀN MOḤAMMAD b. Aḥmad (362/973- after 442/1050), scholar and polymath of the period of the late Samanids and early Ghaznavids and one of the two greatest intellectual figures of his time in the eastern lands of the Muslim world, the other being Ebn Sīnā (Avicenna).
  10. ^ Harper, Daniel (2001). "Online Etymology Dictionary". Retrieved 5 December 2006.
  11. ^ Gardner, Helen (1970). Art through the Ages. New York, Harcourt, Brace & World. pp. 450–456. ISBN 9780155037526.
  12. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1966) [1879], A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  13. ^ "Renaissance man — Definition from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary". M-w.com. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  14. ^ . Askoxford.com. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 6 April 2012.
  15. ^ Shavinina, L. (2013). How to develop innovators? Innovation education for the gifted1. Gifted Education International, 29(1), 54–68.
  16. ^ a b c d Sriraman, B. (2009). Mathematical paradoxes as pathways into beliefs and polymathy: An experimental inquiry. ZDM, 41(1-2), 29–38.
  17. ^ a b R. Root-Bernstein, 2009
  18. ^ a b Root-Bernstein, R. (2015). Arts and crafts as adjuncts to STEM education to foster creativity in gifted and talented students. Asia Pacific Education Review, 16(2), 203–212.
  19. ^ Root-Bernstein, R. (2009). Multiple giftedness in adults: The case of polymaths. In International handbook on giftedness (pp. 853–870). Springer, Dordrecht.
  20. ^ a b Root-Bernstein, R. (2003). The art of innovation: Polymaths and universality of the creative process. In The international handbook on innovation (pp. 267–278).
  21. ^ a b Root-Bernstein, R., Allen, L., Beach, L., Bhadula, R., Fast, J., Hosey, C., ... & Podufaly, A. (2008). Arts foster scientific success: Avocations of nobel, national academy, royal society, and sigma xi members. Journal of Psychology of Science and Technology, 1(2), 51–63.
  22. ^ Root-Bernstein, R., & Root-Bernstein, M. (2011). Life stages of creativity.
  23. ^ Root‐Bernstein, R. S., Bernstein, M., & Gamier, H. (1993). Identification of scientists making long‐term, high‐impact contributions, with notes on their methods of working. Creativity Research Journal, 6(4), 329–343.
  24. ^ Root-Bernstein, R. S., Bernstein, M., & Garnier, H. (1995). Correlations between avocations, scientific style, work habits, and professional impact of scientists. Creativity Research Journal, 8(2), 115–137.
  25. ^ Root-Bernstein, R., & Root-Bernstein, M. (2017). People, passions, problems: The role of creative exemplars in teaching for creativity. In Creative contradictions in education (pp. 143–164). Springer, Cham.
  26. ^ Burke, P. (2012). A social history of knowledge II: From the encyclopaedia to Wikipedia (Vol. 2). Polity.
  27. ^ Burke, P. (2010). The polymath: A cultural and social history of an intellectual species. Explorations in cultural history: Essays for Peter McCaffery, 67–79.
  28. ^ Burke, Peter (2020). The Polymath: A Cultural History from Leonardo da Vinci to Susan Sontag. Yale University Press. p. 352. ISBN 9780300252088. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  29. ^ Burke, 2010
  30. ^ Burke, 2012
  31. ^ Sriraman, B., & Dahl, B. (2009). On bringing interdisciplinary ideas to gifted education. In International handbook on giftedness (pp. 1235–1256). Springer, Dordrecht.
  32. ^ a b c d Araki, M. E. (2018). Polymathy: A new outlook. Journal of Genius and Eminence, 3(1), 66–82. Retrieved from: Researchgate.net
  33. ^ Araki, M. E. (2015). Polymathic leadership: Theoretical foundation and construct development. (Master's thesis), Pontifícia Universidade Católica, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Retrieved from: researchgate.net
  34. ^ Araki, M. E., & Pires, P. (2019). < Modern Literature on Polymathy: A Brief Review (January 10, 2019). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3313137
  35. ^ a b Kaufman, J. C., Beghetto, R. A., Baer, J., & Ivcevic, Z. (2010). Creativity polymathy: What Benjamin Franklin can teach your kindergartener. Learning and Individual Differences, 20(4), 380-387.
  36. ^ Kaufman, J. C., Beghetto, R. A., & Baer, J. (2010). Finding young Paul Robeson: Exploring the question of creative polymathy. Innovations in educational psychology, 141–162.
  37. ^ Kaufman, J. C., & Beghetto, R. A. (2009). Beyond big and little: The four c model of creativity. Review of general psychology, 13(1), 1.
  38. ^ a b Beghetto, R. A., & Kaufman, J. C. (2009). Do we all have multicreative potential?. ZDM, 41(1–2), 39–44.
  39. ^ a b c Robinson, Andrew (11 May 2019). "In pursuit of polymathy". The Lancet. 393 (10184): 1926. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(19)30995-X. S2CID 149445248.
  40. ^ Ahmed 2018, p. 85.
  41. ^ a b Ahmed 2018, p. 282-283.
  42. ^ Ahmed 2018, pp. 160, 164, 176.
  43. ^ Hill, Andrew (11 February 2019). "The hidden benefits of hiring Jacks and Jills of all trades". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  44. ^ Ahmed 2018, p. 146.
  45. ^ Ahmed 2018, p. 148.
  46. ^ a b Ahmed 2018, p. 134-136.
  47. ^ Ahmed 2018, p. 173-174.

Further reading

  • Carr, Edward (1 October 2009). "Last Days of the Polymath". Intelligent Life. The Economist Group. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  • Edmonds, David (August 2017). Does the world need polymaths?, BBC.
  • Frost, Martin, .
  • Grafton, A, "The World of the Polyhistors: Humanism and Encyclopedism", Central European History, 18: 31–47. (1985).
  • Jaumann, Herbert, "Was ist ein Polyhistor? Gehversuche auf einem verlassenen Terrain", Studia Leibnitiana, 22: 76–89. (1990) .
  • Mikkelsen, Kenneth; Martin, Richard (2016). The Neo-Generalist: Where You Go is Who You Are. London: LID Publishing Ltd. ISBN 9781910649558. Retrieved 6 August 2019.
  • Mirchandani, Vinnie, "The New Polymath: Profiles in Compound-Technology Innovations", John Wiley & Sons. (2010).
  • Sher, Barbara (2007). Refuse to Choose!: A Revolutionary Program for Doing Everything that You Love. [Emmaus, Pa.]: Rodale. ISBN 978-1594866265.
  • Twigger, Robert, "Anyone can be a Polymath" We live in a one-track world, but anyone can become a polymath Aeon Essays.
  • Ahmed, Waqas (2018). The Polymath: Unlocking the Power of Human Versatility. West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9781119508489.
  • Waquet, F, (ed.) "Mapping the World of Learning: The 'Polyhistor' of Daniel Georg Morhof" (2000) ISBN 978-3447043991.
  • Wiens, Kyle (May 2012). "In defense of polymaths". Harvard Business Review.
  • Brown, Vincent Polymath-Info Portal.

polymath, universal, redirects, here, sculpture, canadian, artist, gerald, gladstone, universal, polyhistor, redirects, here, ancient, greek, scholar, alexander, polyhistor, other, uses, disambiguation, polymath, greek, πολυμαθής, romanized, polymathēs, having. Universal man redirects here For the sculpture by Canadian artist Gerald Gladstone see Universal Man Polyhistor redirects here For the ancient Greek scholar see Alexander Polyhistor For other uses see Polymath disambiguation A polymath Greek polyma8hs romanized polymathes lit having learned much Latin homo universalis lit universal human 1 is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems Benjamin Franklin is one of the foremost polymaths in history Franklin was a writer scientist inventor statesman diplomat printer and political philosopher He was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States In Western Europe the first work to use the term polymathy in its title De Polymathia tractatio integri operis de studiis veterum was published in 1603 by Johann von Wowern a Hamburg philosopher 2 3 4 Von Wowern defined polymathy as knowledge of various matters drawn from all kinds of studies ranging freely through all the fields of the disciplines as far as the human mind with unwearied industry is able to pursue them 2 Von Wowern lists erudition literature philology philomathy and polyhistory as synonyms The earliest recorded use of the term in the English language is from 1624 in the second edition of The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton 5 the form polymathist is slightly older first appearing in the Diatribae upon the first part of the late History of Tithes of Richard Montagu in 1621 6 Use in English of the similar term polyhistor dates from the late 16th century 7 Polymaths include the great scholars and thinkers of the Renaissance and Enlightenment who excelled at several fields in science technology engineering mathematics and the arts In the Italian Renaissance the idea of the polymath was allegedly expressed by Leon Battista Alberti 1404 1472 a polymath himself in the statement that a man can do all things if he will 8 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz has often been seen as a polymath Al Biruni was also a polymath 9 Leonardo da Vinci Ibn al Haytham Rabindranath Tagore Mikhail Lomonosov Alan Turing Benjamin Franklin John von Neumann Charles Sanders Peirce and Thomas Jefferson are other well known and celebrated polymaths Embodying a basic tenet of Renaissance humanism that humans are limitless in their capacity for development the concept led to the notion that people should embrace all knowledge and develop their capacities as fully as possible This is expressed in the term Renaissance man often applied to the gifted people of that age who sought to develop their abilities in all areas of accomplishment intellectual artistic social physical and spiritual Contents 1 Renaissance man 2 In academia 2 1 Robert Root Bernstein and colleagues 2 2 Peter Burke 2 3 Bharath Sriraman 2 4 Michael Araki 2 5 Kaufman Beghetto and colleagues 2 6 Waqas Ahmed 3 Related terms 4 See also 5 References and notes 6 Further readingRenaissance man Edit Renaissance man redirects here For use as a title of cultural works see Renaissance Man The term Renaissance man was first recorded in written English in the early 20th century 10 It is used to refer to great thinkers living before during or after the Renaissance Leonardo da Vinci has often been described as the archetype of the Renaissance man a man of unquenchable curiosity and feverishly inventive imagination 11 Many notable polymaths a lived during the Renaissance period a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th through to the 17th century that began in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spread to the rest of Europe These polymaths had a rounded approach to education that reflected the ideals of the humanists of the time A gentleman or courtier of that era was expected to speak several languages play a musical instrument write poetry and so on thus fulfilling the Renaissance ideal The idea of a universal education was essential to achieving polymath ability hence the word university was used to describe a seat of learning However the original Latin word universitas refers in general to a number of persons associated into one body a society company community guild corporation etc 12 At this time universities did not specialize in specific areas but rather trained students in a broad array of science philosophy and theology This universal education gave them a grounding from which they could continue into apprenticeship toward becoming a master of a specific field When someone is called a Renaissance man today it is meant that rather than simply having broad interests or superficial knowledge in several fields the individual possesses a more profound knowledge and a proficiency or even an expertise in at least some of those fields 13 Some dictionaries use the term Renaissance man to describe someone with many interests or talents 14 while others give a meaning restricted to the Renaissance and more closely related to Renaissance ideals In academia EditRobert Root Bernstein and colleagues Edit Robert Root Bernstein is considered the principal responsible for rekindling interest in polymathy in the scientific community 15 16 His works emphasize the contrast between the polymath and two other types the specialist and the dilettante The specialist demonstrates depth but lacks breadth of knowledge The dilettante demonstrates superficial breadth but tends to acquire skills merely for their own sake without regard to understanding the broader applications or implications and without integrating it 17 857 Conversely the polymath is a person with a level of expertise that is able to put a significant amount of time and effort into their avocations and find ways to use their multiple interests to inform their vocations 18 857 19 20 21 22 A key point in the work of Root Bernstein and colleagues is the argument in favor of the universality of the creative process That is although creative products such as a painting a mathematical model or a poem can be domain specific at the level of the creative process the mental tools that lead to the generation of creative ideas are the same be it in the arts or science 20 These mental tools are sometimes called intuitive tools of thinking It is therefore not surprising that many of the most innovative scientists have serious hobbies or interests in artistic activities and that some of the most innovative artists have an interest or hobbies in the sciences 18 21 23 24 Root Bernstein and colleagues research is an important counterpoint to the claim by some psychologists that creativity is a domain specific phenomenon Through their research Root Bernstein and colleagues conclude that there are certain comprehensive thinking skills and tools that cross the barrier of different domains and can foster creative thinking creativity researchers who discuss integrating ideas from diverse fields as the basis of creative giftedness ask not who is creative but what is the basis of creative thinking From the polymathy perspective giftedness is the ability to combine disparate or even apparently contradictory ideas sets of problems skills talents and knowledge in novel and useful ways Polymathy is therefore the main source of any individual s creative potential 17 857 In Life Stages of Creativity Robert and Michele Root Bernstein suggest six typologies of creative life stages These typologies based on real creative production records first published by Root Bernstein Bernstein and Garnier 1993 Type 1 represents people who specialize in developing one major talent early in life e g prodigies and successfully exploit that talent exclusively for the rest of their lives Type 2 individuals explore a range of different creative activities e g through worldplay or a variety of hobbies and then settle on exploiting one of these for the rest of their lives Type 3 people are polymathic from the outset and manage to juggle multiple careers simultaneously so that their creativity pattern is constantly varied Type 4 creators are recognized early for one major talent e g math or music but go on to explore additional creative outlets diversifying their productivity with age Type 5 creators devote themselves serially to one creative field after another Type 6 people develop diversified creative skills early and then like Type 5 individuals explore these serially one at a time Finally his studies suggest that understanding polymathy and learning from polymathic exemplars can help structure a new model of education that better promotes creativity and innovation we must focus education on principles methods and skills that will serve them students in learning and creating across many disciplines multiple careers and succeeding life stages 25 161 Peter Burke Edit Peter Burke Professor Emeritus of Cultural History and Fellow of Emmanuel College at Cambridge discussed the theme of polymathy in some of his works He has presented a comprehensive historical overview of the ascension and decline of the polymath as what he calls an intellectual species 26 27 28 He observes that in ancient and medieval times scholars did not have to specialize However from the 17th century on the rapid rise of new knowledge in the Western world both from the systematic investigation of the natural world and from the flow of information coming from other parts of the world was making it increasingly difficult for individual scholars to master as many disciplines as before Thus an intellectual retreat of the polymath species occurred from knowledge in every academic field to knowledge in several fields and from making original contributions in many fields to a more passive consumption of what has been contributed by others 29 72 Given this change in the intellectual climate it has since then been more common to find passive polymaths who consume knowledge in various domains but make their reputation in one single discipline than proper polymaths who through a feat of intellectual heroism manage to make serious contributions to several disciplines However Burke warns that in the age of specialization polymathic people are more necessary than ever both for synthesis to paint the big picture and for analysis He says It takes a polymath to mind the gap and draw attention to the knowledges that may otherwise disappear into the spaces between disciplines as they are currently defined and organized 30 183 Finally he suggests that governments and universities should nurture a habitat in which this endangered species can survive offering students and scholars the possibility of interdisciplinary work Bharath Sriraman Edit Bharath Sriraman of the University of Montana also investigated the role of polymathy in education He poses that an ideal education should nurture talent in the classroom and enable individuals to pursue multiple fields of research and appreciate both the aesthetic and structural scientific connections between mathematics arts and the sciences 31 In 2009 Sriraman published a paper reporting a 3 year study with 120 pre service mathematics teachers and derived several implications for mathematics pre service education as well as interdisciplinary education 16 He utilized a hermeneutic phenomenological approach to recreate the emotions voices and struggles of students as they tried to unravel Russell s paradox presented in its linguistic form They found that those more engaged in solving the paradox also displayed more polymathic thinking traits He concludes by suggesting that fostering polymathy in the classroom may help students change beliefs discover structures and open new avenues for interdisciplinary pedagogy 16 Michael Araki Edit Michael Araki is a professor at Universidade Federal Fluminense in Brazil He sought to formalize in a general model how the development of polymathy takes place His Developmental Model of Polymathy DMP is presented in a 2018 article with two main objectives organize the elements involved in the process of polymathy development into a structure of relationships that is wed to the approach of polymathy as a life project and provide an articulation with other well developed constructs theories and models especially from the fields of giftedness and education 32 The model which was designed to reflect a structural model has five major components polymathic antecedents polymathic mediators polymathic achievements intrapersonal moderators environmental moderators 32 The Developmental Model of Polymathy DMP Regarding the definition of the term polymathy the researcher through an analysis of the extant literature concluded that although there are a multitude of perspectives on polymathy most of them ascertain that polymathy entails three core elements breadth depth and integration 32 33 34 Breadth refers to comprehensiveness extension and diversity of knowledge It is contrasted with the idea of narrowness specialization and the restriction of one s expertise to a limited domain The possession of comprehensive knowledge at very disparate areas is a hallmark of the greatest polymaths Depth refers to the vertical accumulation of knowledge and the degree of elaboration or sophistication of one s sets of one s conceptual network Like Robert Root Bernstein Araki uses the concept of dilettancy as a contrast to the idea of profound learning that polymathy entails Integration although not explicit in most definitions of polymathy is also a core component of polymathy according to the author Integration involves the capacity of connecting articulating concatenating or synthesizing different conceptual networks which in non polymathic persons might be segregated In addition integration can happen at the personality level when the person is able to integrate their diverse activities in a synergic whole which can also mean a psychic motivational emotional and cognitive integration Finally the author also suggests that via a psychoeconomic approach polymathy can be seen as a life project That is depending on a person s temperament endowments personality social situation and opportunities or lack thereof the project of a polymathic self formation may present itself to the person as more or less alluring and more or less feasible to be pursued 32 Kaufman Beghetto and colleagues Edit James C Kaufman from the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut and Ronald A Beghetto from the same university investigated the possibility that everyone could have the potential for polymathy as well as the issue of the domain generality or domain specificity of creativity 35 36 Based on their earlier four c model of creativity Beghetto and Kaufman 37 38 proposed a typology of polymathy ranging from the ubiquitous mini c polymathy to the eminent but rare Big C polymathy as well as a model with some requirements for a person polymath or not to be able to reach the highest levels of creative accomplishment They account for three general requirements intelligence motivation to be creative and an environment that allows creative expression that are needed for any attempt at creativity to succeed Then depending on the domain of choice more specific abilities will be required The more that one s abilities and interests match the requirements of a domain the better While some will develop their specific skills and motivations for specific domains polymathic people will display intrinsic motivation and the ability to pursue a variety of subject matters across different domains 38 Regarding the interplay of polymathy and education they suggest that rather than asking whether every student has multicreative potential educators might more actively nurture the multicreative potential of their students As an example the authors cite that teachers should encourage students to make connections across disciplines use different forms of media to express their reasoning understanding e g drawings movies and other forms of visual media 35 Waqas Ahmed Edit In his 2018 book The Polymath British author Waqas Ahmed defines polymaths as those who have made significant contributions to at least three different fields 16 Rather than seeing polymaths as exceptionally gifted he argues that every human being has the potential to become one that people naturally have multiple interests and talents 39 He contrasts this polymathic nature against what he calls the cult of specialisation 40 For example education systems stifle this nature by forcing learners to specialise in narrow topics 39 The book argues that specialisation encouraged by the production lines of the Industrial Revolution is counter productive both to the individual and wider society It suggests that the complex problems of the 21st century need the versatility creativity and broad perspectives characteristic of polymaths 39 For individuals Ahmed says specialisation is dehumanising and stifles their full range of expression whereas polymathy is a powerful means to social and intellectual emancipation which enables a more fulfilling life 41 In terms of social progress he argues that answers to specific problems often come from combining knowledge and skills from multiple areas and that many important problems are multi dimensional in nature and cannot be fully understood through one specialism 41 Rather than interpreting polymathy as a mix of occupations or of intellectual interests Ahmed urges a breaking of the thinker doer dichotomy and the art science dichotomy He argues that an orientation towards action and towards thinking support each other and that human beings flourish by pursuing a diversity of experiences as well as a diversity of knowledge He observes that successful people in many fields have cited hobbies and other peripheral activities as supplying skills or insights that helped them succeed 42 Ahmed examines evidence suggesting that developing multiple talents and perspectives is helpful for success in a highly specialised field He cites a study of Nobel Prize winning scientists which found them 25 times more likely to sing dance or act than average scientists 43 Another study found that children scored higher in IQ tests after having drum lessons and he uses such research to argue that diversity of domains can enhance a person s general intelligence 44 Ahmed cites many historical claims for the advantages of polymathy Some of these are about general intellectual abilities that polymaths apply across multiple domains For example Aristotle wrote that full understanding of a topic requires in addition to subject knowledge a general critical thinking ability that can assess how that knowledge was arrived at 45 Another advantage of a polymathic mindset is in the application of multiple approaches to understanding a single issue Ahmed cites biologist E O Wilson s view that reality is approached not by a single academic discipline but via a consilience between them 46 One argument for studying multiple approaches is that it leads to open mindedness Within any one perspective a question may seem to have a straightforward settled answer Someone aware of different contrasting answers will be more open minded and aware of the limitations of their own knowledge The importance of recognising these limitations is a theme that Ahmed finds in many thinkers including Confucius ʿAli ibn Abi Ṭalib and Nicolas of Cusa He calls it the essential mark of the polymath 46 A further argument for multiple approaches is that a polymath does not see diverse approaches as diverse because they see connections where other people see differences For example Da Vinci advanced multiple fields by applying mathematical principles to each 47 Related terms EditAside from Renaissance man similar terms in use are homo universalis Latin and uomo universale Italian which translate to universal man 1 The related term generalist contrasted with a specialist is used to describe a person with a general approach to knowledge The term universal genius or versatile genius is also used with Leonardo da Vinci as the prime example again The term is used especially for people who made lasting contributions in at least one of the fields in which they were actively involved and when they took a universality of approach When a person is described as having encyclopedic knowledge they exhibit a vast scope of knowledge However this designation may be anachronistic in the case of persons such as Eratosthenes whose reputation for having encyclopedic knowledge predates the existence of any encyclopedic object See also EditAmateur Competent man Creative class Genius Interdisciplinarity Jack of all trades master of none Multipotentiality Opsimath Philomath Polyglotism Polygraph author Polymatheia a muse of knowledge in Greek mythologyReferences and notes Edit Though numerous figures in history could be considered to be polymaths they are not listed here as they are not only too numerous to list but also as the definition of any one figure as a polymath is disputable due to the term s loosely defined nature there being no given set of characteristics outside of a person having a wide range of learning across a number of different disciplines many also did not identify as polymaths the term having only come into existence in the early 17th century a b Ask The Philosopher Tim Soutphommasane The quest for renaissance man The Australian 10 April 2010 Retrieved 27 July 2018 a b Murphy Kathryn 2014 Robert Burton and the problems of polymathy Renaissance Studies 28 2 279 doi 10 1111 rest 12054 S2CID 162763342 Burke Peter 2011 O polimata a historia cultural e social de um tipo intellectual Leitura Teoria amp Pratica ISSN 0102 387X Wower Johann 1665 De Polymathia tractatio integri operis de studiis veterum polymath n and adj OED Online Oxford Oxford University Press Accessed December 2019 polymathist n OED Online Oxford Oxford University Press Accessed December 2019 polyhistor n OED Online Oxford Oxford University Press Accessed December 2019 Renaissance man Definition Characteristics amp Examples BiRuNi ABu RAYḤAN Encyclopaedia Iranica www iranicaonline org Retrieved 29 May 2019 BiRuNi ABu RAYḤAN MOḤAMMAD b Aḥmad 362 973 after 442 1050 scholar and polymath of the period of the late Samanids and early Ghaznavids and one of the two greatest intellectual figures of his time in the eastern lands of the Muslim world the other being Ebn Sina Avicenna Harper Daniel 2001 Online Etymology Dictionary Retrieved 5 December 2006 Gardner Helen 1970 Art through the Ages New York Harcourt Brace amp World pp 450 456 ISBN 9780155037526 Lewis Charlton T Short Charles 1966 1879 A Latin Dictionary Oxford Clarendon Press Renaissance man Definition from the Merriam Webster Online Dictionary M w com Retrieved 6 April 2012 Oxford concise dictionary Askoxford com Archived from the original on 30 September 2007 Retrieved 6 April 2012 Shavinina L 2013 How to develop innovators Innovation education for the gifted1 Gifted Education International 29 1 54 68 a b c d Sriraman B 2009 Mathematical paradoxes as pathways into beliefs and polymathy An experimental inquiry ZDM 41 1 2 29 38 a b R Root Bernstein 2009 a b Root Bernstein R 2015 Arts and crafts as adjuncts to STEM education to foster creativity in gifted and talented students Asia Pacific Education Review 16 2 203 212 Root Bernstein R 2009 Multiple giftedness in adults The case of polymaths In International handbook on giftedness pp 853 870 Springer Dordrecht a b Root Bernstein R 2003 The art of innovation Polymaths and universality of the creative process In The international handbook on innovation pp 267 278 a b Root Bernstein R Allen L Beach L Bhadula R Fast J Hosey C amp Podufaly A 2008 Arts foster scientific success Avocations of nobel national academy royal society and sigma xi members Journal of Psychology of Science and Technology 1 2 51 63 Root Bernstein R amp Root Bernstein M 2011 Life stages of creativity Root Bernstein R S Bernstein M amp Gamier H 1993 Identification of scientists making long term high impact contributions with notes on their methods of working Creativity Research Journal 6 4 329 343 Root Bernstein R S Bernstein M amp Garnier H 1995 Correlations between avocations scientific style work habits and professional impact of scientists Creativity Research Journal 8 2 115 137 Root Bernstein R amp Root Bernstein M 2017 People passions problems The role of creative exemplars in teaching for creativity In Creative contradictions in education pp 143 164 Springer Cham Burke P 2012 A social history of knowledge II From the encyclopaedia to Wikipedia Vol 2 Polity Burke P 2010 The polymath A cultural and social history of an intellectual species Explorations in cultural history Essays for Peter McCaffery 67 79 Burke Peter 2020 The Polymath A Cultural History from Leonardo da Vinci to Susan Sontag Yale University Press p 352 ISBN 9780300252088 Retrieved 16 November 2020 Burke 2010 Burke 2012 Sriraman B amp Dahl B 2009 On bringing interdisciplinary ideas to gifted education In International handbook on giftedness pp 1235 1256 Springer Dordrecht a b c d Araki M E 2018 Polymathy A new outlook Journal of Genius and Eminence 3 1 66 82 Retrieved from Researchgate net Araki M E 2015 Polymathic leadership Theoretical foundation and construct development Master s thesis Pontificia Universidade Catolica Rio de Janeiro Brazil Retrieved from researchgate net Araki M E amp Pires P 2019 lt Modern Literature on Polymathy A Brief Review January 10 2019 Available at SSRN https ssrn com abstract 3313137 a b Kaufman J C Beghetto R A Baer J amp Ivcevic Z 2010 Creativity polymathy What Benjamin Franklin can teach your kindergartener Learning and Individual Differences 20 4 380 387 Kaufman J C Beghetto R A amp Baer J 2010 Finding young Paul Robeson Exploring the question of creative polymathy Innovations in educational psychology 141 162 Kaufman J C amp Beghetto R A 2009 Beyond big and little The four c model of creativity Review of general psychology 13 1 1 a b Beghetto R A amp Kaufman J C 2009 Do we all have multicreative potential ZDM 41 1 2 39 44 a b c Robinson Andrew 11 May 2019 In pursuit of polymathy The Lancet 393 10184 1926 doi 10 1016 S0140 6736 19 30995 X S2CID 149445248 Ahmed 2018 p 85 a b Ahmed 2018 p 282 283 Ahmed 2018 pp 160 164 176 Hill Andrew 11 February 2019 The hidden benefits of hiring Jacks and Jills of all trades Financial Times Archived from the original on 10 December 2022 Retrieved 16 December 2021 Ahmed 2018 p 146 Ahmed 2018 p 148 a b Ahmed 2018 p 134 136 Ahmed 2018 p 173 174 Further reading EditCarr Edward 1 October 2009 Last Days of the Polymath Intelligent Life The Economist Group Retrieved 12 January 2017 Edmonds David August 2017 Does the world need polymaths BBC Frost Martin Polymath A Renaissance Man Grafton A The World of the Polyhistors Humanism and Encyclopedism Central European History 18 31 47 1985 Jaumann Herbert Was ist ein Polyhistor Gehversuche auf einem verlassenen Terrain Studia Leibnitiana 22 76 89 1990 Mikkelsen Kenneth Martin Richard 2016 The Neo Generalist Where You Go is Who You Are London LID Publishing Ltd ISBN 9781910649558 Retrieved 6 August 2019 Mirchandani Vinnie The New Polymath Profiles in Compound Technology Innovations John Wiley amp Sons 2010 Sher Barbara 2007 Refuse to Choose A Revolutionary Program for Doing Everything that You Love Emmaus Pa Rodale ISBN 978 1594866265 Twigger Robert Anyone can be a Polymath We live in a one track world but anyone can become a polymath Aeon Essays Ahmed Waqas 2018 The Polymath Unlocking the Power of Human Versatility West Sussex UK John Wiley amp Sons ISBN 9781119508489 Waquet F ed Mapping the World of Learning The Polyhistor of Daniel Georg Morhof 2000 ISBN 978 3447043991 Wiens Kyle May 2012 In defense of polymaths Harvard Business Review Brown Vincent Polymath Info Portal Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Polymath amp oldid 1150293377, wikipedia, wiki, book, 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