In the United States for example, if you’re employed with a company, you get healthcare. In some parts of the world, these benefits come at a heavy cost to an individual’s freedom. In exchange for their loyalty, the company offers its employees the security of long-term employment, along with additional incentives including tax-sheltered retirement accounts and access to healthcare. This facilitates increased efficiency by reducing the need for training and allowing individuals to iteratively improve their ability to perform similar tasks. One important criteria to optimize for specialization is ensuring that workers stay in the same role for prolonged periods of time. By dividing the tasks needed to produce goods and services, individual workers could focus on specific tasks rather than developing a variety of expertise. Division of labor was the solution they were looking for. In order to thrive, they sought new ways to operate more efficiently and productively. Cost of Specializationįollowing unprecedented growth during the industrial revolution, businesses faced more competition than ever before. Finally, I’ll share my own experiences and learnings exploring a multitude of pursuits. We’ll explore its origin, the limits it places on workers' freedoms, and how the polymath approach can offer a reprieve. The answer lies in modern society’s preference for specialization. Why is the former so common, and the latter so unknown? It may surprise you to learn there’s actually an extended version: “A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one.” With a subtle addition, its meaning becomes inverted to tout the benefits of being a polymath (a.k.a. That should get you started though.You’ve likely heard the saying: “A jack of all trades is a master of none.” It warns against the futility of pursuing too many disciplines. Critical Thinking by Alec Fisher seems like a good enough book.ĭitto with deliberate practice. Too much has been written on critcal thinking and I could not do it justice. you can learn from mistakes and improve (unless it kills you IRL).look at challenges as (necessary) opportunities for growth.high levels of self-belief / self-confidence.believe that you have the ability to affect the outcome of whatever it is you're doing (i.e.Our minds are naturally tempests of random activity, calming and focusing the mind is a skill.
A polymath how to#
Learning how to meditate would be a huge help in developing these skills. You also need the ability to relax, mentally and physically, on demand. Indifference to distractions is like turning out the lights around you. Intense concentration is like shining a spotlight on something. You would use this as a roadmap of sorts, along with deliberate practice, to determine where you are and where you need to go. It describes the transition from novice to expert. The Dreyfus model is basically a description of the five stages a person goes through when acquiring skills. Have we missed a subreddit that ought to be included? If you think a subreddit belongs in the DepthHub, let us know. Moderators can and will remove content they find unsuitable. When visiting other subreddits via DepthHub, follow their rules, too.Upvotes are for insightful and useful content, and downvotes are for content you find unfit for DepthHub. Please follow Reddiquette, especially when voting.Complaints about why a submission is "not DepthHub material" that do not contain a strong argument and explanation will be removed.When arguing or otherwise disagreeing, use good form.Stay on topic when discussing submissions, and refrain from low-effort replies like memes and one-liners.Add ?context=x to the URL when linking to a comment, where x is the number of previous comments you want to include. When linking to discussions, link directly to the comment you want to highlight in the thread.Do not use sockpuppets or friends in attempt to circumvent this rule. Do not link to your own comments or posts, or to any discussion in which you participated.DepthHub is not for links to external websites. Only submit links to original comments and posts on Reddit.You can use the DepthHub as an alternative front page with high-quality discussion and inquiry. DepthHub gathers the best in-depth submissions and discussion on Reddit.