In Ancient Greece, for example, there existed polymathic philosophers, freethinking enquirers who transcended fields and disciplines. They would pursue a question, and would be willing to explore any field of knowledge that might shed light on it. They were known as atopos or ‘unclassifiable’. It is they – the likes of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle

Let's take common sayings in Eastern Europe, for example: the Poles refer to the budding polymath as someone with ‘seven trades, the eighth one – poverty’, the Estonians ‘nine trades, the tenth one – hunger’, while in Czech Republic they say ‘nine crafts, tenth comes misery’, and in Lithuania that, ‘when you have nine trades, then your tenth one is

Most people form a particular opinion or take certain decisions early on in life, in which for some reason (more often emotional than rational) they develop a strong conviction.

Ziauddin Sardar, a champion of critical thinking and himself a writer on many subjects, says such a method can allow any intelligent individual to penetrate so-called ‘specialist’ fields: Once the jargon, which is designed to mystify the outsiders, is stripped away one finds a methodology and a thought process which can be mastered by anyone who is

this book proposes nothing less than a cultural revolution in our education and professional structures, whereby everyone is encouraged to express themselves in multiple ways and fulfil their many-sided potential. Not only does this enhance individual satisfaction, but in doing so, facilitates a conscious and creative society that is both highly mo

To polymathise, therefore, is to emancipate oneself from such overwhelming dependence and, in a sense, to pursue true freedom. Instead of trusting those unpredictable elements, one ought to (to quote Emerson) ‘Trust Thyself’.

Stephen Wolfram, polymath and founder of Mathematica, says, ‘you need a reason to learn about something’.

Psychologically, we find it easier to refer to someone as an ‘electrician’ than as ‘an electrician-musician-mother-of-six who was once a physician-athlete with a love for poetry’. This is reflected in the way surnames have come to be in different societies. In Britain, for example, many modern surnames (such as Carpenter, Mason, Taylor, Harper, Smi

Humans of exceptional versatility, who excel in multiple, seemingly unrelated fields. That’s the superficial definition. Put differently, polymaths are multi-dimensional minds that pursue optimal performance and self-actualisation in its most complete, rounded sense. Having such a mindset, they reject lifelong specialisation and instead tend to pur