In the footsteps of industrialism, a new kind of person emerged: the expert. The specialist who mastered one thing, deeply. But in today’s fast-changing society, it’s becoming increasingly clear that we also need something else. A different kind of person who not only digs deep but connects across boundaries. Someone who builds bridges and creates new perspectives from the multifaceted. That person is called a polymath. But who truly has the right to claim that title?
Who can call themselves a Polymath?
The word polymath originates from Greek and means “someone who has learned much.” But it’s not just about reading books or academic study. It’s about experience. About doing. Trying. Failing – and trying again. A polymath isn’t necessarily the one with the most degrees, but often the one who’s stood knee-deep in the mud – literally or figuratively – and still chose to step forward. Into something new. Again.
A true polymath is curious. Never satisfied with “enough,” but driven by a deep need to understand how things work – whether it’s human behavior, mechanics, music, or management. And this kind of understanding rarely comes from a classroom. It’s born in the workshop, in conversation, during a journey, in a sketchbook, or on a stage.
Becoming a polymath isn’t something you study for – it’s something you live your way into. It takes courage to change paths, patience to start over, and humility to know you’ll never be fully learned. It requires a deep respect for craft, for lived knowledge, and for the kind of wisdom you can only gain by doing.
The Polymath and the Expert – Two Inherited Ideals
With the rise of industrialism came a new ideal: the expert. The factory system required specialization – people who could do one thing, and do it well. Efficiency, precision, and predictability were the buzzwords. The narrower your knowledge, the deeper you could go. It was functional. Necessary. But it also came with a price.
In that world, being “a little bit of everything” was often viewed with suspicion. People who moved between different fields were seen not as versatile, but as unfocused or even unreliable. But a polymath isn’t shallow – quite the opposite. It’s not about having dabbled for the sake of variety, but about having truly committed, learned, failed, and understood across different fields.
Today, having studied marketing and then backpacked through India might offer two kinds of experience – but does it make you a polymath? No. Not unless you’ve also truly delved into several domains and built meaningful bridges between them. The polymath is not a random wanderer. They are a system builder – someone who connects seemingly unrelated knowledge into new insights, new ideas, and new paths forward.
The polymath doesn’t think in silos – but in systems. And that is exactly what the world needs now. When systems begin to crack, when the expert’s narrow solutions fall short, when we face problems that require interdisciplinary thinking and storytelling – that’s when the polymath steps forward.
A Bridge Between Worlds
So, who can call themselves a polymath? Maybe it’s the person who’s gone from graphic designer to car mechanic. From radio host to lecturer. From fatigue to curiosity. From theory to practice – over and over again. Not as a bragging right, but as a quiet recognition of a life filled with learning in its most living form.
The polymath is not the opposite of the expert – but their necessary partner. While the expert digs deep in a narrow field, the polymath maps how those fields connect. And maybe it’s precisely there, in the tension between depth and breadth, that the most meaningful innovation is born.
Being a polymath isn’t a title. It’s a way of living. A tribute to curiosity. A reminder that our real value might not lie in what we know – but in how we continue to learn what we don’t. Again and again and again.
By Chris...
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