Polymath Vs Specialist
- 1 minI was reading an interesting article yesterday. The article was arguing about how being a polymath is actually more valued, or at least will be more valued, as we go forward instead of being an expert in a specific field.
This “clash” of ideas is something I’ve been thinking for a while myself and I never quite know where the line can be drawn. I like the idea of having a well-rounded knowledge over a variety of topics but then again I also understand the value of going deep into a subject and achieving a level of knowledge that would deem you an expert on that subject.
A good point the article makes is the fact that many great ideas throughout history came from people who were dabbling in more than one fountain of knowledge with Aristotle being just one of the examples.
This is also something that is recognised at 8th Light. During your apprenticeship you end up working on a variety of skills from writing, to public speaking and of course formulating and executing ideas in code. I do think this the right approach. The more you know about a variety of things, the more options you see for possible problems.
Personal blog of Makis Otman