Are you a Multipotentialite/Polymath?

[JWM]

So I stumbled across this term last year some time, while it sounds corny at first, I realised I fit the definition.

"A multipotentialite is a person who has many different interests and creative pursuits in life. Multipotentialites have no “one true calling” the way specialists do."

The term was coined by Emilie Wapnick and it differs slightly to the term "Polymath" as it has more to do with interests and pursuits rather than general knowledge and being of "encyclopedic learning".

What do you all think of the concept? Do you think you fit into it?

As for me, I absolutely think I do. It has actually made me feel better about what I do, like it isn't wrong to develop completely unrelated skills, get good at them and move onto something else.

I became an Engineer then worked as one. While I was working as an Engineer I started learning how to airbrush as an artist and became quite good, I even manged to get flown out to Malaysia to airbrush amusement park rides for 3 weeks. I picked up some web dev skills out of pure interest, developed a few sites and moved on (this is a skill that could get me out of a tight spot if there is a lack of funding for a business project). Now I'm teaching myself how to make custom knives out of pure interest.

I expect people to say it's because I lack a main focus so I need to fill my time with something to keep busy. I can assure you I would still be this way even if I was full steam ahead on a business (almost) or career. I thought the same thing at one point but realised it wasn't the case. What I'm interested in is discovering an interesting skill, learning it and being good at it. I get a rush from developing a brand new skill, the research, the history and what can be produced.

Just thought I'd share, thanks for reading

 

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[RazorCut]

Don't we call this shiny object syndrome?

No we dont.

We can call this a curiosity for life or a fascination with learning. Some of us love to be able to master a skill just for the challenge of it. I'm not saying be world class but at a high enough standard that we could probably get paid for it in some shape or form.

In fact I expect many of us have been paid for, at least, one of these 'side skills' we have acquired over the years (as in @JWM example above). I know I have countless times. In fact I was offered money to coach someone on one such skill recently. As it was I gave my time freely but they would have happily paid $70 for less than an hour of my time.

We are all different. My father never had a single hobby that I know of. I know other people who have just that, a single hobby. Be it golf or fishing or whatever. They spend all their free time happily trying to reduce their handicap or catch that 50lb+ carp in that one lake.

That would bore me to tears although I quite like the occasional round of golf and days fishing.

 

[Eskil]

Lol, yeah I didn't know there was a term for it but it's how I have felt my whole life. Things I either have done or want to get really into include programming, game development, woodworking, guitar building, graphic design, learning Japanese, making custom knives, oil painting, PC building, sculpting, playing drums, playing piano, playing bass, playing guitar, singing, scale model kits, web design, marketing, cooking, screenwriting, renovating a bathroom, built a walk in closet, worked on cars, film directing, acting, drawing, dancing, scuba diving, composing music, building businesses, and of course inventing!

(I feel like I still left out a lot, lol)

 

[TonyStark]

I think most people are in one way or another.

It’s hard to be successful by being good at one thing.

Most business owners/successful people have to be good at multiple things.

 

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[Primeperiwinkle]

Oh my. YES.

I have loved the word novaturient for a while.. I’ll have to add multipotetialite to the list. It’s just.. fun. People don’t understand how I can study so many different things but to me it’s sheer happiness. I want to know all the things, so I can compare all the things, do a bunch of the things and die knowing I visited multitudinous spheres of learning not just five square feet.

But oh goodness.. I wish I could learn faster. Lol.

 

[Primeperiwinkle]

Don't we call this shiny object syndrome?

Not the OP but I can see how they would look the same, especially when I’m first embarking on a new subject. There is a difference though. Shiny object syndrome is escapism.

This type of learning is closer to the Renaissance man. It forwards the goals in your life, deepening the connection to the good, the true, and the beautiful.

I admit I swing between the two more often than I like. The proof is in the action.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

"A multipotentialite is a person who has many different interests and creative pursuits in life.

Fits me perfectly. I want to do/try everything. I walk into a book store or a library and I want to READ/LEARN everything.

It's kinda cool, but it's also detrimental and lends itself to a lack of focus. As someone else mentioned, could cause Shiny Object Syndrome.

 

[Eskil]

@Eskil which of these skills you enumerated you could say you are good at?

Well I still haven't gotten around to most of them, lol. Which.... trust me, I want to check them all off of my bucket list once I retire from my FTE

But to answer your question for the ones I have tried so far - I feel like every time I get my hands into something new, I really want to master it and do my very best at it. I'm never gonna become a complete expert at each and every hobby, but as long as I feel like I learned something or created something that felt rewarding - that was good enough for me.

For example, I think I did pretty well when I made my first guitar (which I posted a thread about here), wrote and composed a few songs (including one I made for my wife when we were dating), and tried my hands at building dog furniture or making birthday cakes, lol...

 

[Never1]

When I was in highschool, one of my teachers had this quote on a blackboard, and it stayed up there for all the years I was there.

"There are no uninteresting things, only uninterested people."

20 years later, it still comes to mind quite often.

I don't like using too many terms to describe myself, but I absolutely fit the descriptions in the OP. A girl I once knew referred to me as a new renaissance man.

No matter the subject, I always have a good grasp of it, usually enough to carry on a conversation. I'm a curious guy and I ask tons of questions, when I meet people who work in interesting fields.

 

[lowtek]

Kind of seems to me that we are loosening the definition to simply mean anyone with broad curiosity and the tendency to dabble.

When I think of a polymath, I think of DaVinci. Very very few people are gifted in multiple areas of science and mathematics as well as in painting and sculpting.

Isaac Newton also comes to mind. Best known for his application of calculus to physics (I think it's debated whether he or Leibniz developed calc), he was also a heavy practitioner of alchemy, the precursor to modern chemistry.

IMHO, it's someone with world class talent in multiple arenas that are so dissimilar that it would take two or more individuals to achieve comparable expertise and recognition. I think few such people are alive at any one time that we can name them on one hand.

 

[Eskil]

I disagree, actually. This is a lot like that "Sapiosexual" word thats getting thrown a lot lately. Everyone likes intelligence and enjoys having deep conversations, but someone made a word for it and now everyone calls themselves a Sapiosexual. I think everyone is capable of learning everything. Some people are too lazy to do so, some people just jump from one shiny thing to the next... And some people have the discipline necessary to sit down and learn until they feel confident enough with it to move to the next one.
I would say that its more about discipline than the ability or will to learn. Everyone can learn, some would rather watch tv than do it.

Yeah the sapiosexual thing is a joke tbh. I do see what you're trying to say - and I do agree that everyone is capable of learning everything. Yes everyone can learn. But what OP what posting is about, and what this is about - is actually having the interest to want to learn so many things. The majority of people I have met throughout my life simply don't have that many interests. They are happy and content with maybe a hobby, and in some cases maybe two hobbies, but that's enough for most. Absolutely nothing wrong with that. This is not about comparing who is 'smarter' or 'better' or who is more lazy.

It's just about the interesting fact that some people have a deep, innate hunger to pursue and fulfill a TON of hobbies and skill learning. For most others, they're happy and content without it (though of course they would still be capable of learning if they did have the interests).

 

[Kak]

I fit the concept for sure.

I am one of those jacks of all trades.

On two ends of the spectrum... I own businesses in wildly different markets and can put on a suit and make C level dealings. The next week I can rebuild the top half of my engine and remodel my house.

I want to build (and fly) an experimental airplane at some point.

My interests are very broad. I'm weird like that.

 

[MTF]

According to Wikipedia, it seems like there are two definitions of multipotentiality.

The first one:

Multipotentiality is an educational and psychological term referring to the ability and preference of a person, particularly one of strong intellectual or artistic curiosity, to excel in two or more different fields.

The key word here is "excel."

And the second definition:

It can also refer to an individual whose interests span multiple fields or areas, rather than being strong in just one. Such traits are called multipotentialities, while "multipotentialites" has been suggested as a name for those with this trait. By contrast, those whose interests lie mostly within a single field are called "specialists."

This simply means that you have many interests, but it doesn't necessarily mean that you excel in all of them.

I wouldn't consider myself a multipotentialite according to the first definition because I don't really excel at anything. Even considering my main business skill, writing, I still wouldn't consider myself "exceptional" when compared to writers specialists like Stephen King. Same with entrepreneurship in general, which is my big passion, but it would be ridiculous to call myself an exceptional entrepreneur.

I would consider myself a multipotentialite according to the second definition, though as I do have many interests and can't limit myself to just one hobby. I've experienced a lot of different things and learned a lot from different domains. I often take ideas from one passion and apply it in another. It's also easier to learn new things after you've learned a lot of diverse things as you get better at learning fast.

At the same time, I often feel inferior to other people because I've never reached mastery in anything, particularly in sports which have always been my primary passions outside of entrepreneurship.

It seems like no matter what sport I engage in, I always stop improving after about 2-3 years and end up with average skills. But then it makes me think of Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia, who wrote in his book Let My People Go Surfing:

"I've always thought of myself as an 80 percenter. I like to throw myself passionately into a sport or activity until I reach about an 80 percent proficiency level. To go beyond that requires an obsession that doesn't appeal to me. Once I reach 80 percent level I like to go off and do something totally different; that probably explains the diversity of the Patagonia product like - and why our versatile, multifaceted clothes are the most successful."

Perhaps that's a fitting word for me, too - an 80 percenter. You're proficient enough, but you can't call yourself exceptional.

 

[JAJT]

I think the Internet has made it easier than ever to "deep dive" into multiple subjects effortlessly in ways never before possible.

I'm 35 right now, which means I'm that funny generation that was old enough to know life before the internet but young enough to have basically adopted it immediately upon it's arrival as well.

I can tell you life before the internet was smaller. FAR smaller. If you wanted to learn something new you had to pick up a book or go to school for it. If you found that fascinating you had to seek out people who knew that stuff and talk to them and spend time around them to grow the skill and knowledge further. It was a lot of effort and quite slow.

These days, all you need to do to get "80% there" is find yourself a passionate and thriving internet community, or an expert who uploaded their knowledge to youtube, or take an online course for free (or cheap), or do a few google searches, or any number of other options.

It was REALLY easy to let your passions and questions "die on the vine" before the internet. If you didn't get what you wanted from a book and couldn't find a local and helpful expert to help you out - you basically hit a dead end unless you had some serious passion and commitment behind you that pushed you to keep going regardless of the problems.

These days I can lazily learn how artificial intelligence and quantum mechanics works at a university education level while I sit in my underwear and stream Spongebob Squarepants on the second monitor. If I'm interested I can pick up a few select books (in audio format!) that thousands of other people have already vetted as the "best of the best" on that subject. I can listen to the books on 2x speed while commuting around town and ask questions to fill in the gaps on internet forums while on the toilet. And if I want to find an expert I just have to say "yo, who's in Ottawa?" to one of the communities and I'll get 10 responses by the next day.

Frankly I'd be disappointed in the wasted potential if MOST people today weren't in some way, shape, or form considered Polymath's by old world standards.

 

[JWM]

Don't we call this shiny object syndrome?

In this case I disagree. I'm not chasing all of these skills to further my career, make money, keep up to date or turn it into some business idea. It's purely out of interest. I discover something that really draws me in, I learn all all about it, set a goal and have a go. That goal is at least to be very good at it. It's the satisfaction of developing the skill and producing something unique from it.

 

[NovaAria]

I disagree, actually.
This is a lot like that "Sapiosexual" word thats getting thrown a lot lately. Everyone likes intelligence and enjoys having deep conversations, but someone made a word for it and now everyone calls themselves a Sapiosexual.
I think everyone is capable of learning everything. Some people are too lazy to do so, some people just jump from one shiny thing to the next... And some people have the discipline necessary to sit down and learn until they feel confident enough with it to move to the next one.

I would say that its more about discipline than the ability or will to learn. Everyone can learn, some would rather watch tv than do it.

 

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[B. Cole]

Me to a T - somebody actually called me this last year, I never heard the term until I was labeled as such lol.

Play guitar, piano, built guitars, woodworking, sculpting, painting, tropical landscaping and building tiki huts, drawing, airbrushing, all construction trades, mechanic - built a monstrous 97 GMC w/ 1 ton axles, inventing. Learning production processes, marketing, making ads/video and now -

Fastlaning

 

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[Mutant]

Hey - another one here!

Always feel like a bit of a prick describing myself as a polymath or a multi-hyphenate (there's another term for you!) or whatnot (or maybe I'm just being too English). So I just go with "I'm curious" or "I have wide-ranging curiosity".

As for earning money with any of them? The shortest way I've found to answer the question "what do you do for a living?" is always "I'm a freelancer".

I've learnt I can't just do one thing & focus entirely, but if I followed every interest, I'd need extra hours in the day. As always, the answer is somewhere between the extremes. Trying to work out if I'm going too far one way or the other is a constant consideration, as is reminding myself of my priorities. I think it's a good thing though - like Steve Jobs taking a calligraphy class because he was interested, not thinking it would help create the Mac fonts later - a wider pool to draw from leads to more creative results. I'm still really hoping my dots will connect well looking back


"I collect hobbies" - from The Brother Bloom:

 

[Never1]

Fits me perfectly. I want to do/try everything. I walk into a book store or a library and I want to READ/LEARN everything.

It's kinda cool, but it's also detrimental and lends itself to a lack of focus. As someone else mentioned, could cause Shiny Object Syndrome.

Yup. I acknowledged this darkside in myself, some time ago, and always need to remind myself to not get lost in academia-style BS. If there's nothing of value to my future goals, I'll do my best to ignore the temptations to learn about "quantum metaphysics" or whatever. lol

Man, do I ever wish we could just soak up any subject like NEO in the Matrix, when he was training. Maybe someday technology will get us there?

 

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[Primeperiwinkle]

Yup. I acknowledged this darkside in myself, some time ago, and always need to remind myself to not get lost in academia-style BS. If there's nothing of value to my future goals, I'll do my best to ignore the temptations to learn about "quantum metaphysics" or whatever. lol

Man, do I ever wish we could just soak up any subject like NEO in the Matrix, when he was training. Maybe someday technology will get us there?

I used to say this ALL the time. I love the Matrix. But .. you know it’s not any fun to just get info downloaded. That concept of “education” is exactly why public schools are so incredibly worthless. “Teachers” lecture and expect children to just swallow bland oatmeal down without ever trusting in them enough to give them real meat, letting them struggle with the concepts. Public school kills curiosity and THAT is a true tragedy.

The joy really is in the challenge. I remember the first time I used a blowtorch on pinewood slats and it smelled like marshmallows! Of all things! Or when I taught myself to knit from a book and for some weird inexplicable reason it took me an hour to master this one stupid knot. Or.. when I said screw it and decided to take my boys fishing.. and because I had read about weights and bait or maybe just because the grace of God, we caught more than anybody else at the barge that day...even though their mama had to say a prayer over EVERY worm. Oh lord.. too squishy! ROFL!

Or, reading the original Faërie Queene with my son who was THREE at the time and laughing hysterically as we tried to understand it, line by line.. then, as my son started discussing what it takes to be a good knight.. oh my.

Those are all precious memories of learning, REAL learning because we feel timid, foolish, maybe overwhelmed by the task ahead but also full of awe and wonderment.

Passively receiving information doesn’t make us feel alive. The struggle does. The challenge to grasp an idea or a skill, wrestle it down to the ground, and then lift it up with my own hands and say “This is mine” with real love because I fought to understand it and no one can ever take that from me.

I wax poetic about learning.. anyhoo.. it’s really nice to find more people who understand.

 

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[Deleted50669]

I think people are naturally this way. Then society puts us in a box, or tries to anyway. As kids we ask "why" about everything; we want to know how the world works and manipulate it in different ways. As adults we get punished for asking why. But at our root we're designed to explore and learn.

 

[srodrigo]

Yes, and it's a curse, because no matter what you devote your live to, you'll be unhappy for the interests you are leaving behind.

 

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[Eskil]

Fits me perfectly. I want to do/try everything. I walk into a book store or a library and I want to READ/LEARN everything.

It's kinda cool, but it's also detrimental and lends itself to a lack of focus. As someone else mentioned, could cause Shiny Object Syndrome.

Hehe...yes! Gotta be careful and try to have discipline and focus. In my younger years I would stray from one thing to another ("gotta master ALL the things!") lol, but the trick is to teach yourself to just do, and enjoy, a thing a time.

 

[dgr]

I stumbled upon this term some years ago, and found a book that helped me a lot to understand me better in that regard.

"Refuse to choose" by Barbara Sher.

The downside of it is that you rarely monetize any of your skills, as specialists do. But once you recognize yourself as a generalist and accept that fact, you can become a better entrepreneur, or creative problem solver, or conector, or whatever.

... I love to be a generalist, but I cannot avoid to envy some specialists sometimes.

At least, I've found a passion where being a generalist is necessary. I'm into filmmaking lately and that allows me to learn a lot about so many topics without going out my way. As a good teacher of mine said "as a director, you have to be the second best in everything"

I guess the same applies to a lot of entrepreneurial endeavors.

Enviado desde mi MotoG3 mediante Tapatalk

 

[JWM]

Lol, yeah I didn't know there was a term for it but it's how I have felt my whole life. Things I either have done or want to get really into include programming, game development, woodworking, guitar building, graphic design, learning Japanese, making custom knives, oil painting, sculpting, playing drums, playing piano, playing bass, playing guitar, singing, scale model kits, cooking, screenwriting, film directing, acting, drawing, dancing, scuba diving, composing music, building businesses, and of course inventing!

(I feel like I still left out a lot, lol)

Hey I absolutely left a lot out, the things I want to try or things that I knew I no longer wanted to pursue is an endless list. Thanks for sharing though, you seem to share a lot of similar interests.

 

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[JWM]

Some of use love to be able to master a skill just for the challenge of it.

This is a big part of it I think.

 

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[Everyman]

Hey Man

I will send you a PM.

It's nice to see there are more of us like this! This thread will definitely become one of my top ones. Hopefully.

Many people will see it as spreading yourself thin. Not focusing. But you probably feel it's your nature. It's far from the truth. We just sit down and focus on it, until we are happy, and then go to another one. Also, in the process, we can find a really great one that consumes us for longer period, and also, combined with knowledge and experience from other ones, we can build something really great...

@Eskil which of these skills you enumerated you could say you are good at?

The best part is, you just need a couple of hours to become better than 95% of the population. But a bit more to make a living from it. Still we don't do this for money, but for the sheer pleasure. It's like a drug to our brain. We need to know and be able to do more and more and more.

My opinion is that only a person who has a lot of mastered skills in many areas can be successful. You need to master sales in order to sell your skills, this is at least two main skills to start with. And then how do you master sales? Copy? Calling? Writing (in general)? Marketing etc etc... each one of these is a science in itself. And then your 'main' skill, which you want to sell......

 

[B. Cole]

Well I still haven't gotten around to most of them, lol. Which.... trust me, I want to check them all off of my bucket list once I retire from my FTE

But to answer your question for the ones I have tried so far - I feel like every time I get my hands into something new, I really want to master it and do my very best at it. I'm never gonna become a complete expert at each and every hobby, but as long as I feel like I learned something or created something that felt rewarding - that was good enough for me.

For example, I think I did pretty well when I made my first guitar (which I posted a thread about here), wrote and composed a few songs (including one I made for my wife when we were dating), and tried my hands at building dog furniture or making birthday cakes, lol...

Yeah you’re multi as hell, I could tell when we talked. All us multi’s end up inventors

 

[Gabry_ITA]

Hey @JWM

This is very interesting, thanks for sharing.
I agree 100%; I'm a person who likes to learning, reading and do so many different things that I couldn't remember all, but I can't find this "gift" in every person. I'm not excellent in a specific topic but I can be good in many.
I think that multipotentiality is an important plus to have success.
Also, I think that there is a little problem, a limit that could damage a multipotential person: if you like to do, study, reading many topics there is a risk that you let incomplete something: for example, sometimes I start to learn something; then I'm starved, I wanna know all about this one but also about that and that and those ecc.
The result? I know a little about 10 topics but not as an expert. I'd prefer to be less starved about quantity and more careful about quality.
If you can avoid this problem, multipotentiality is a great engine to drive the Fastlane!

 

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[B. Cole]

I like it, a lot of things in there that I'm interested in, I'm mainly getting my hands dirty with metal work at the moment. Can I ask what kind of airbrushing you have done?

I dabbled with license plates, t-shirts, stuff like that, but I used it heavily for painting decoys - at 16 I began carving birds and decoys, and grew into carving competitively, where birds were made as realistic as possible. The extreme artistic end of what used to be a utilitarian/folk art form.

 

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