Unintentional polymathy?
I am using the term "polymathy" liberally here. I don't mean that I'm currently competent in a variety of fields; that certainly isn't the case. What I mean by polymathy is that I'm currently trying to become competent in what happens to be more than one field.
I never once intended to have my life span multiple fields of interest. That was never a conscious decision, and if people hadn't reacted in surprise when they found out the different things I was learning, I wouldn't have even recognized that I was doing it. I was just doing what I wanted to do, whenever I wanted to do it, and however I wanted to do it, which I think is a pretty good life philosophy. I am a programmer by profession and nature; I just happen to also love other things in addition to it, like art, animation, writing, music, theme parks...
I just legitimately thought that everyone had 3-5+ interests that they really, really love doing. I still find it hard to believe that other people don't have that. How can you only have one interest? What on earth do you do during your spare time? Do you...watch more TV? I watch TV and enjoy a variety of shows, but I can't do it all day. Maybe this is why people have so many kids (no offense to those who do, though I only hope to have two max, kids are great but there is absolutely no way I could handle more than two). I guess having kids gives people something to do, or...????? How exactly can you tell your kids to pursue their hopes and dreams when you have none of your own?
As a disclaimer, I know that many parents are polymathic, and they may even pass on those traits to their children. So, that is probably not the correct answer :’)
It's the same thing with computer science. I don't get people who have super strong feelings about how much they hate back-end or front-end. Why hate anything? It's all code, it's all fun, it's all creation. I want to learn every field of computer science, while picking a few areas that I want to get really good at.
And I'm not a dabbler, either. That's why I don't like Puttylike all that much, though it does have good articles here and there. It's geared towards dabblers who don't care about excelling, and don't commit to anything.
I don't get it, how you can specialize in one thing and not long for more. But, maybe that's just me.
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