Post AvHxj8TwlHTICaH8m8 by ml@ecoevo.social
 (DIR) More posts by ml@ecoevo.social
 (DIR) Post #AvHrxdHqQYjg4R908e by futurebird@sauropods.win
       2025-06-19T11:47:12Z
       
       1 likes, 0 repeats
       
       I think being a real polymath ought to make you feel clueless and foolish because you are confronted with HOW MANY things you know only a little bit about.
       
 (DIR) Post #AvHsEDO5yOYUfVyVbU by pikesley@mastodon.me.uk
       2025-06-19T11:50:03Z
       
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       @futurebird even learning one thing in great depth should give you some grasp of how surface-level your understanding of everything else is
       
 (DIR) Post #AvHsEyT0vvPsgNdbIO by magicalthinking@noauthority.social
       2025-06-19T11:50:23Z
       
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       @futurebird That would be a psuedo-polymath.
       
 (DIR) Post #AvHxj8TwlHTICaH8m8 by ml@ecoevo.social
       2025-06-19T12:51:44Z
       
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       @futurebird That's what grad school was like, for sure. Reinforces imposter syndrome in marginalized students. Worsened by the type of self-aggrandizing bros who give out that they know EVERYTHING.
       
 (DIR) Post #AvI1h3RIwFrHnfIoyG by llewelly@sauropods.win
       2025-06-19T13:36:04Z
       
       0 likes, 1 repeats
       
       @futurebird I had an algebra teacher who was fond of saying "I know geometry, trigonometry, algebra, and calculus, which makes me a polymath." (I still find his pun hilarious. : ) To be fair, he also knew Greek , and a lot about the history of science and math in Europe and the Mediterranean, and when he talked about those topics, he would causally draw an accurate map of the region, with time-appropriate labels and borders, as if drawing accurate maps from memory on a chalkboard was no big deal
       
 (DIR) Post #AvI48amlGaMmwqb7Gi by rperezrosario@mastodon.social
       2025-06-19T14:03:12Z
       
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       @futurebird A polymath is distinct from the proverbial Jack of All Trades in that he or she needs to have  profound-enough knowledge of at least some of his or her fields of interest in order to make a novel contribution. They sit somewhere between a generalist and a person whose knowledge is hyper-specialized. If polymaths were search algorithms they would be akin to iterative deepening A*, rather than depth first (a specialist), or breadth-first (a Jack of All Trades.)
       
 (DIR) Post #AvI8G1njcYDIZzr10q by numist@xoxo.zone
       2025-06-19T14:49:44Z
       
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       @futurebird ...isn't that the fun part? That awareness seems like the best possible gift for someone who loves learning
       
 (DIR) Post #AvICy7ZNvzNd1qQGwa by PizzaDemon@mastodon.online
       2025-06-19T15:42:32Z
       
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       @futurebird yeah, that's what's happening with me. I'm overwhelmed not incurious. Now that I've mastered sarcasm it's on to the next subject