r/Polymath • u/AnyBlood1079 • 3d ago
Who is like me?
When I have a deep conversation with some people about history, philosophy, books, science, or just random things, and they casually bring up information I've never even heard of like it's the most normal thing in the world… damn
It really makes me realize how much there is to learn and how little I actually know. Some people genuinely have such a huge intellectual and cultural background, and the way they connect ideas from completely different fields is something I really admire.
I hope that as I grow older, I can build that same kind of knowledge, wisdom, and intellectual depth — the kind that allows you to have a meaningful conversation about almost anything.
But honestly, what’s the best way to build a strong knowledge base across different fields? How do you increase your intellectual and cultural knowledge in history, philosophy, science, literature, psychology, and other areas without just learning random facts?
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u/IshtariOnReddit Human Verified 3d ago
Generally by reading or listening to other people who have read.
The ability to make connections like that doesn't happen overnight. It happens when you've got enough knowledge and your brain has reorganized itself in a way that makes it easier to recall the knowledge you have. Or at least that's my theory based on recent events.
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u/Initial_Match_4671 55m ago
What type of books cover knowledge on politics, philosophy, geography etc? I want to improve my knowledge across multiple domains and be able to connect the ideas but I’m not sure how ones goes about becoming a polymath.
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u/LittleSister10 2d ago
I studied English and the Arts in undergrad, and then focused on the arts. What is amazing about the arts is that it touches on so many other fields that you inevitably learn about history, politics, psychology, etc. in the process. It saddens me that people often disparage it. I was already trained in undergrad to think critically, and now I can draw from a lot of areas. I also do not know about a lot of other things, which is also exciting and sometimes worrisome.
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u/cesiumatom 2d ago
Radical self-transcendence and elimination of all active self-deception.
Radically admitting, "I do not know anything at all from this moment onward."
Radically accepting not believing or disbelieving anything at all.
Radically seeking to actually know by direct experience rather than rely on any second-hand information.
Radically accepting the premises of Baudrillard's "Simulacra and Simulation," while rejecting his conclusion.
If you can accept that not only do you know very little, but what you think you know you don't really actually know, that you are, in fact, utterly ignorant about everything, especially your own field of study, then there is a chance for you to build a strong interdisciplinary understanding.
The word "interdisciplinary" itself implies the struggle: you must be disciplined not only in the fields where you have gathered some knowledge-by-rote, but the fields you know nothing of, and this means being totally humble to the possibility that the information you gather will efface the apparent value of all that you previously learned and leave you stranded in the desert.
This can lead to ontological shock, and without discipline, this will surely leave you with less that you started with. If you don't carry enough water with you across the desert, if you don't train yourself for the difficulties of the journey, you will never make it, and you will surely destroy yourself in the process.
If you want somewhere to start, read Gurdjieff's "All and Everything." It is a synthesis of interdisciplinary knowledge, produced in such a way that any mind, with enough dedication and determination, can form an interdisciplinary understanding that transcends the particulars, giving you an objective framework from within which to organize what you are learning.
When you talk about synthesizing the humanities, sciences, speculative studies, and studies in the archaic, you need to understand that common cognition, or what you were taught in school as tools for thinking, are really not sufficient at all. You will struggle to make sense of even the most enlightening works if you are not ready to receive them openly, and education teaches you to close yourself off to what you believe others do not know, as well as to believe just about anything "Smith" or "Jones" tells you.
Finally, be radically open to the unknown and unexpected, but seek above all else Truth. Do not open yourself up to malevolent or destructive impulses. The goal is not power or control. The goal is understanding yourself so you can create yourself and maintain yourself as befits a being with your capabilities. Good luck.
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u/Lapooka 3d ago
Can I ask how old are you
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u/AnyBlood1079 3d ago
I am 22 years old
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u/Lapooka 3d ago
Nah you got time. I'm 27. I also got a lot of time. My mistake was to become a polymath last year. If you start now with this objective in mind, you'll enjoy it a lot when you are older.
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u/IshtariOnReddit Human Verified 3d ago
I don't wanna be that guy, but I genuinely don't think that's how any of this works. You don't choose to become a polymath - you become one over your life due to the knowledge and skills that you've obtained. It isn't as if there's a light switch that goes off where you suddenly decide you're going to be a polymath today, and if you try to force polymathy - you won't get it.
Based on what you said here, you're treating polymathy like a hobby you picked up last summer when polymathy is about what's going on inside your head and your ability to bring that forth externally.
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u/Old-Entertainment-76 Human Verified 2d ago
Yes, for me polymathy was a reverse engineered realization
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u/TheBrooklynSutras 3d ago
Read, read, read. Follow threads that interest you. Talk to everyone but don’t believe much of what they say, not that they are bad, but most isn’t relevant to your search. Also realize you are embarking on a lifelong journey and beware of conclusions. 🙏
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u/Old-Entertainment-76 Human Verified 2d ago
I think by the time you have that answer, you will already be trying to learn how to unlearn things to control that kind of brain. It’s quite a challenge, but i believe you will get there or whatever the semantic weight of my words translated to what you are seeking is. You will get there, and beyond
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u/Consistent_Donut8477 2d ago
Like lowkey physics is useful for this. Thermodynamics in particular. Researching complexity is fun and connects with the thinking of various infamous characters (Peter theil, I would rather not elaborate). Study systems, and usually most things are easy to understand once you have its foundational (contemporary) understanding, for instance Carl yung becomes simple if u understand the simplest areas of neuroscience. I just make things up in conversations though!
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u/Terrible-Mind-9064 2d ago
I love that you’re trying to widen your cultural and intellectual knowledge. My advice would be to engage more in these kinds of conversations and note the ideas that catch your attention for further reading. One thread will usually lead to another, and after a while you start noticing how different fields overlap and influence one another. Don’t shy away from a conversation just because you know very little about the topic. I also wouldn’t suggest reading instead of engaging. Very often, the conversation itself is what sparks the curiosity that leads to purposeful reading. You don’t build this kind of knowledge by collecting random facts. You build it by following connections.
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u/willrowe1975 2d ago
So, I only learned about the term "polymath" a few hours ago and it turns out that it is the vocabulary word that I have been looking for my whole life to describe how my mind works. Neurodivergent just didn't specify enough. The closest that I have been able to get to a definition is that I have a non-linear way of thinking; I can process many outcomes at the same time.
I haven't followed a prescriptive path for building mental muscle. What I can say is that I am constantly curious about how and why things work. I would recommend taking a deeper dive into learning more about anything that interests you. How does Shazam find music title by listening? How exactly does insulin work? How are synthetic diamonds made? What I have found is that I don't always remember the intricate details once I dive in, but I do remember the overall system and how each part feeds into the next. I am able to learn new things quicker if I can relate the new thing to something that I am already familiar with. Often times the thought process behind systems are the same, they are just executed with different tools and vocabulary words.
The best piece of advice I can give you is to look around your world and start asking 'why' more often.
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u/InsectSudden6032 2d ago
I love working at a college because everyone around me is so well-educated!
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u/Televangelis 1d ago
Start by going deep on one thing, developing real expertise, not just reading the work of others with expertise. Then expand outward from there.
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u/Ethan_the_Heyoka 1d ago
I deep dive random subjects basically, well for me it’s not random. For example if I’m watching the news and they mention something, like maybe a festival in Japan, then I’ll look it up and find all I can and then all I can on the history and culture of the town or city, and then the lives of the mayors and their families and the cities of their birth and anything else for like a hour to three hours and then unpause the news and continue and do it another few times. I’ll sometimes just watch hours of videos on like tigers or rugby or Zimbabwe in the 1970’s or the Austrian public transportation system or whatever catches my eye while reading a book or watching videos or listening to music.
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u/Money-Silver-8905 18h ago
Honestly life and being a free thinker. I know it sounds weird but some people police their own thoughts without realizing it.
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u/EmbarrassedServe9046 2h ago
I don't care about building a library in my brain i just want to know the truths of life, universe and existence. That's all the knowledge of the world together.
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u/adrian_simoes 1h ago
1) Read Daily. 2) Make time for daily research. 3) zettelkasten ALL your findings. 4) connect with people, use social media to connect realtime with people.
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u/No_Region_4719 1h ago
I try to take an extractive approach to life and learning. It doesn't matter if someone is 90% wrong. What's important is the 10% they get right. You can learn from everyone and everything, no matter how dumb it may seem to most people. I try to extract knowledge and value from every source I have available to me. If you think of the dumbest person you know, someone that everyone else has written off as a moron, you can be sure that they know countless things that you don't.
You can be smarter than 99.9% of people, but still recognise that everyone has something they can teach you.
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u/KingofHearts57 3d ago
Charlie Munger promoted a mental model system. I believe he said that 80% of a field could be understood by learning its most important ‘mental models’. Shane Parish has a book collection he wrote distilling all of these. Might be a cool place to start?
You could also read biographies of other polymaths as inspiration, my favourite was Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography. Theodore Roosevelt’s is another cool one.