Dr. Martin Hash Podcast

A polymath is a person who is excellent at several things: usually combinations like science, art & exploration; or sports, philosophy & math, and sometimes all of those. There were actually times in history when a polymath, also known as a Renaissance Man, could know all human knowledge, limited as it was; and everybody who looked could discover something new on their own. In the past, the more things a person knew, the more wisdom they were assumed to have, and the polymath was held in high acclaim; but in modern times an odd irony has emerged that a person's competency is assumed to diminish as the breath of their knowledge expands.

As humanity accumulated more-and-more knowledge, specialists developed, taking the shine off polymath generalists. Now our society only really allows you to be an expert in one or two things, after which they denigrate you. This is irrational, obviously something psychological: people are envious & resentful of those who in comparison make them feel insignificant; one expertise you're allowed, but more than that, you're a self-centered dilettante who takes opportunities from other people who could do the job better. One must now buck the tide of spite & perversity to become a polymath even though it's insanely more difficult than anytime in history.