Generally Speaking #007 - The Polymath movement

Polymaths doing polymath things

I recently made a change to my profile on all the platforms that I frequent. I now refer to myself as a “Generalist…with polymath tendencies.”

What does this actually mean? Well, I am a generalist. I think I’ve been clear on that from the outset. I have many interests, which has led me to increase my knowledge in these areas, some at a deeper level than others...ergo, the polymath tendencies.

Am I being pedantic simply to fit in with the crowd? No. I believe it matters.

I am not a polymath, if you hold to it’s accepted definitions as outlined in last week’s post. No. I am absolutely a generalist. Do I aspire to be a polymath? Frankly, I don’t have a choice in the matter. My curiosity and desire to learn more will dictate my path. It’s not like choosing between wearing a t-shirt or long sleeves! There is no choice to be made. It just is.

Having spent the last few weeks delving deeper into Polymaths (or Polymathics, as some like to use), it is clear that there is a large populous, within an active community, that identify as such.

There are regular active X spaces on related topics, run by Polymaths with hundreds of thousands of followers. There are many active communities, both on and off the X platform, and more popping up each week. And the discussions are fascinating.

I recently joined a new Skool community on this topic, as I am keen to not only learn and understand more, but also develop.

I’m a generalist. It’s what I do.

Look at a group who identify as Polymaths and you will quickly realise they share some common traits - wide range of interests, insatiable curiosity, relentless pursuit of knowledge, effective self-learners that are able to understand and distill new information as though they’ve been studying it for years.

As someone who is on this journey but sits firmly in the middle somewhere (between generalist and polymath), I am eager to explore this much further (no surprise, right?) and understand more of the psychology behind it.

Until next time.

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Resources:

The 5 Personality traits of successful Polymaths

Samantha Postman - active Polymath on X

Polythinkers - a community for Polymaths, founded by Samantha and Elhadj Chikhaoui

Polymath Roundtable - a new Skool community run by Will McGuire

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P.S:

I don’t have all the answers but I love learning. Feel free to ask me anything. What helps you will also help me!

If you want to read more of my writing, I am also on X (Twitter) and Medium.

Where can I read about you?

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