Just a moment...

uk.bookshop.org

RelatedCollectionsHighlights

today we live in a highly specialised society which discourages (almost suppresses) the polymath, as well as any memory of her existence.

Waqas Ahmed • The Polymath: Unlocking the Power of Human Versatility

Intellectual specialisation by the 1800s thus became a reality and different disciplines of knowledge were being institutionalised in the form of academic departments at universities. The word ‘discipline’ – imported from the military notion of control or restraint – began to be used in the…

Some highlights have been hidden or truncated due to expor

Waqas Ahmed • The Polymath: Unlocking the Power of Human Versatility

Should we become specialists or polymaths? Is there a balance we should pursue? There is no single answer. Whether we’re conscious of this or not, it’s also a decision we have to make and re-make over and over again. Every day, we have to decide where to invest our time — do we become better at what we do or learn something new?

Shane Parrish • The Generalized Specialist: How Shakespeare, Da Vinci, and Kepler Excelled

So what will be the implications of this for humans? One thing that is already happening is job automation. According to research by Frey and Osborne at Oxford which assesses 702 occupations and their probability of being computerised in the coming decades, 47% of all American jobs are at risk. Historian and futurist Harari puts it well: ‘the ninet