We’ve now discussed Heraclitus to death here. But what did
the other Greeks think about polymathy? It turns out that lots of them had an
opinion, although it’s still pretty unclear as to exactly what they meant by
it.
Some of them were in favor of it.
For example, Hesiod, one of Heraclitus’s polymaths, said, “Far
best is he who knows all things himself.”
Solon, the first great Athenian politician and one of the famed
Seven Sages of Greece, was known for having said that “he grew old ever
learning many things.” You may have heard of the term “solon.” It is a somewhat
disused term for a local politician.
And Cleobulus, another of the Seven Sages, said, “Know many
things rather than know nothing.”
Others were against it. Aeschylus, one of the great early
Greek playwrights, wrote, “Not he who knows many things is wise, but he who
knows what is profitable.”
Hippo of Samos, an early Greek philosopher, was quoted as
having said, “Nothing is more empty than much learning (polymathy) – nothing
more vain and useless."
And the famed pre-Socratic philosopher Democritus had a lot
to say on the subject:
- “Many who have much learning (polymathy) have no intelligence.”
- “One should cultivate much intelligence (or an understanding of many things), not much learning (polymathy).”
- “Do not wish to learn everything, lest you become ignorant in everything.”
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