Comprehension 360 — Polymath
Elucidating The Sesquipedalian Paradigms of Education
The Definition
There is nothing overly complex about the phrase polymath. It has a very simple definition. What makes it unusual is how rarely this term is used. Polymath is a term relegated to Jeopardy, non-fiction books, and wikipedia entries.
Origin
The Greek root of polymath is equally easy, if a little surprising. It is a combination of poly-meaning “many or much” and math-meaning “to learn”. You might have expected math to have something to do with numbers. It doesn’t.
Unicorns
Today it is far more common to hear of Unicorns. Rare breeds of men and women who excel in multiple capabilities. As hard to find as the mythical creature, they are highly sought by start-ups and tech companies alike. Unicorns are similar, but not completely identical to the polymath.
Athletes
Before unicorns became a buzzword, the phrase athlete was common. Athlete may be a better analogy. Athletes was utilized to characterize agile thought leaders. Employees that could learn and adapt. The term was a bit more practical or applied than the pure definition of polymath, but closely reflects those that were commonly given the tag.
So why did we need those terms?
It is intriguing that despite the existence of a perfectly suitable term, people chose to leverage metaphors and utilize mythical creatures. But then we live in a time when college degrees are specialized and a doctorate is of greater perceived value than multiple bachelor’s degrees.
Lost in antiquity
The term seems to have been lost with the industrial revolution. In a time when labor specialization became increasingly sought after, the reverence and incidence of broad knowledge began to fade. Polymaths were the men and women of history.
Perhaps it was the newborn focus of the industrial revolution on invention and productivity that caused the polymath to fade. Edison, Tesla, and others were better known for prototypes and experimentation than their writing. Maybe it is easier to write authoritatively about a breadth of subjects than it is to act?
Or maybe it was the division that took hold between art and science? While Ancient Greece boasted many a polymath philosopher, later centuries almost always boasted polymaths with a penchant for art, architecture, and music.
Revival
Around 1858, the term Renaissance was first used to describe the period of art and scientific revival that occurred in Italy several centuries before. Not long after the term Renaissance Man was coined as yet another synonym for the polymath. This one was perhaps colored by its time. With polymaths of the day expressing a linger affection for the age of their ascendance, making them romantics after all…
Recent Examples
Defining exactly who was or was not a polymath is a tricky subject. There is no authoritative definition for the Universal Man (or woman). But living candidates may include James Lovelock, Stephen Wolfram, and Douglas Hofstadter. More here -
For a collection of writing by noted polymaths, check out Corsair’s Institutes Store And Interactive Library Site. The site is still under development but already lists a solid collection of great books by noted polymaths like Ben Franklin, Aristotle, Wolfram, Hofstadter and more.
Comprehension 360 is a series created by Corsair’s Institute to increase the reader’s understanding of key concepts in education and learning. For more articles like these — please subscribe to our magazine which shares its name Comprehension 360.
