Arriving at a definition of the modern polymath

We’ve talked about various definitions of polymathy that have been offered over the centuries, and now we’re ready to come up with a definition for the modern polymath. Our goal is to best match not only the original Greek concept of polymathy, but also how polymaths have been viewed throughout the centuries.

In an earlier post, I mentioned the definitions from a pair of seventeen century German intellectuals: “knowledge of diverse things, drawing on every kind of discipline and ranging very widely,” and “the extent and actual state of all living knowledge.”

That’s way too high. Other than perhaps The Big Bang Theory’s Dr. Sheldon Cooper, no one knows the extent and actual state of all living knowledge.

Remember that Heraclitus’s original definition of a polymath, based on the people that he called polymath, seemed to be something like mastery of three or more fields. That might be a good fit for a modern interpretation. Two fields seems like too few, but four seems to be too many. Thus, three might be just right.

Or is it? More tomorrow.