Complex Numbers

Maths and Polymaths

Ever feel inadequate?

Well, today's link isn't going to help.

https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20191118-what-shapes-a-polymath---and-do-we...

Why some people are impossibly talented
Polymaths excel in multiple fields. But what makes a polymath – and can their cross-discipline expertise help tackle some of society’s most pressing challenges?

If it weren’t for an actress and a pianist, GPS and WiFi might not exist.

In the late 1930s and early 40s, Hedy Lamarr was already the toast of Hollywood, famed for her portrayals of femme fatales. Few of her contemporaries knew that her other great passion was inventing.

Even today, most people don't know how awesome Hedy Lamarr was.

Besides helping to outline the specific traits that allow some people to juggle different fields of expertise so successfully, new research shows that there are many benefits of pursuing multiple interests, including increased life satisfaction, work productivity and creativity.

Despite having once served as an "expert witness," I don't consider myself an expert at anything. I do have a lot of interests, I think, but I can't say I score high in life satisfaction; I don't care about work productivity; and I'm about as creative as a paramecium.

There are, of course, some good reasons why we might be hesitant to pursue multiple interests. One is the fear that we might spread ourselves too thinly if we devote ourselves to more than one avocation. With a divided attention, we would fail to achieve success in any domain – the idea that the “Jack of all trades is the master of none”.

Yep, that's me. Hardly "all" trades, though.

In reality, there is some evidence that developing diverse disciplines can fuel creativity and productivity. So while the pursuit of a second or third interest may seem like a distraction, it can actually boost your success in your primary field.

Now we get to why I bothered to read and link this article. Presumably, the people reading this are writers, and what have we writers always heard? "Write what you know." I've said before that this advice should probably be turned around to "Know what you write," but either way, a lot of writers can benefit greatly from cross-discipline study. Some of the things I learned about personal finance, for example, can be applied to weight loss; both involve budgeting and tracking.

And when we write, we draw from all kinds of different sources. Sometimes it's sufficient to look something up when you need it, but better still if you have some background in the subject in question. While I'd wager none of us have experience in microgravity -- few people do -- some basic knowledge of orbital mechanics and Newtonian physics can help one write more compelling science fiction.

Some people figure they just go to school for some number of years and train in their chosen field. That's one way to get through life. Me? I'll stop learning when my brain turns to mush, through disease, injury, or death. I can't be afraid or unwilling to learn new things, because I never know when some obscure fact will pop up in my writing.

Problem is, the universe of human knowledge is expanding exponentially. I doubt that it's possible for any one person to know everything, as much as some people like to act as if they do. So we all have to be selective. But you can't know ahead of time what will be useful and what won't, so for me, I just assume that all knowledge is potentially useful.

There's no such thing as useless trivia, and yes, all of this will be on the quiz.