Aug 21, 2020 - Polymathic Thinking for the 21st Century
Fellow Interintellect Alex Yao explores polymathic thinking - its history and usefulness today in how we understand and shape our world
About this Event
"When we think about polymaths, we picture Leonardo DaVinci and the ancient 'generalists' of the past - when we look up the typical polymaths, they usually include the great scholars and thinkers of the Islamic Golden Age, the Renaissance Period and the Enlightenment, who excelled at several fields in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and the arts.
Yet we're all aware there are polymaths living among us today, online and around the world: they converse with us at dinners and write books, they post on their blogs or host interesting Interintellect Salons...
So at this particular Interintellect Salon we will go 'meta' and ask: How can we use polymathic thinking in our modern world? Can we...? Is it a superpower - or an anomaly?
Who represents the archetype of the modern polymath in our own society? Has the internet made it easier or harder for us to become polymaths? Are there still opportunities to become a polymath despite accelerating and exponential growth of knowledge and information? Is polymathic thinking necessary for us to understand complexity and existential problems in the modern world? What's the role of the modern polymath in helping to integrate and connect complex topics?
We will dive into these questions and more through our own range of diverse perspectives and personal experiences. See you there!" - Salon host Alex Yao
Good to read/watch pre-salon
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWhvpIOruqo
- https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Polymath#
- https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/beautiful-minds/how-renaissance-people-think/
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterhigh/2016/06/27/nick-bostrom-on-the-single-most-important-challenge-that-humanity-has-ever-faced/#7cdccea94af0
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yacBnfp7u7Y