r/Polymath

How can i confirm that i have a polymath brain? Any online test or anything?

Just joined the sub and curious about everyone’s story. Did it hit you early on, or much later after picking up too many random skills/fields?

It’s very hard to not be bored of everything now. Life is so predictable. Even topics that one is ignorant on, we have a gist of what it is. Do I know ANYTHING about 1960s plumbing? No, but I get the gist and know it wouldn’t interest me.

I have ADHD and think things that are so stupid sometimes but that’s what I want. I want to meet people smart enough to know some things and curious about other things with complete ignorance on the topic so they don’t know the rules so they break them. They combine one field they are competent on with another they’re not and that’s where the ideas come from.

Basically, true polymaths are hard to find. Many of them treat it like an almost self help lifestyle I think the same old ideas (study DaVinci, study the same topics etc). I need people competent but unique and outcast’s probably. How do I find these people so I can learn from them?

Hello everyone, how are you? I know my post might be outside the group, but I want to discuss some theories related to psychology and neurocognition, or more precisely, abilities unknown in the scientific community.

Some of these fall under partial control of the nervous system, such as voluntary control of heart rate, blood flow, or sensory intensity. However, for it to reach the point of controlling hormone secretion is strange. I suffered from hyperthyroidism since childhood and experienced its symptoms, but unfortunately, the diagnosis was very late, until I was 20.

The tests showed a clear elevation in T3 hormone with very pronounced symptoms, while T4 and TSH remained within their normal range. Even after repeating the tests twice, the result was the same, and the thyroid gland itself was healthy, and all other tests were normal except for that elevation. Unfortunately, they couldn't prescribe any medication for me because the thyroid gland itself was healthy, and the other hormones were also normal.

So I thought to myself, why not try to control them using the same technique I use to control my heart rate, change my blood flow, and alter the intensity of my senses? After another test, the results showed a decrease to the normal range, coinciding with With the symptoms gone, I can say that anything in my body that has nerve endings allowing it to communicate with the nervous system is under my control. Let's discuss this now. In future posts, I'll talk about things I've changed, like my perception of waves, even though it's scientifically impossible, and other theories about memory.

I don't just remember a scene as an image or information, but as a complete recollection of the brain during that memory—feelings, speech, sight, thoughts... and there are things even stranger than this.

Due to some conversations that have happened recently, I realized Rule 3 really wasn't cutting it as far as the direction I want this group to go.

We're not here to require people cite 3 scientific papers in order to even chat in this group. People can talk about whatever interests them... but when assertations/"this is fact" starts coming in, THEN proof is needed.

^((yes this means esoteric stuff too! Why not? It's interesting if you let it be.) ^(Be open to weirdness!))

There's a difference between:

"I've experienced this and I wonder if..."

and

"This is how it works."

The first is exploration. The second is an assertion, and that's where evidence or reasoning comes in.

And if somebody challenges your idea? Fantastic. That's part of the point. Bring your reasoning, look at the evidence, and be willing to discover that you were wrong...or that you were onto something (because people will usually continue the thread if you are.)

You don't have to believe someone's hypothesis. You can challenge it. But you don't get to dictate that someone isn't allowed to explore a question merely because it isn't already scientifically settled. We're science-minded, but we need to be open to things that science hasn't discovered yet or studied much of yet.

^((like the female body and how our hormones react to meds already developed...))

That's the direction I'm trying to take r/Polymath: bring the ideas, make the connections, defend what you assert, and keep learning.

The new Rule 3 is a test run. If we find that the wording needs work, we'll adjust it. That's how rules work around here. Hope you're used to them changing! I won't punish/remove stuff when I change a rule for a good long time, a few weeks usually, just so people have time to adjust.

😁😁😁

The jack of all trades was undersold. The jack of all trades might be a master of none of those trades, but he is a master polymath. The jack of all trades might just be a master of cross domain synthesis.

Ps. He's probably a only a jack in any of the trades because he wouldn't (chose not to) stay focused on one particular trade long enough because he was so interested in everything.

https://preview.redd.it/nq82wl5tpljh1.jpg?width=832&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=07ee1915b4ab16d9ce3771a80d5fd06ee6d4de9a

I think I would choose Benjamin Franklin.

Not necessarily because he was the greatest polymath ever, but because his knowledge was unusually practical. He was involved in science, invention, writing, publishing, business, diplomacy, politics, education and civic institutions.

Leonardo da Vinci might be the person I'd choose to teach me how to observe and think. Aristotle might teach me how to organize knowledge and reason. Ibn Sina might teach me how to pursue knowledge relentlessly.

But Franklin seems like the person I'd choose to teach me how to turn knowledge into a life.

So I'm curious:

If you could have one historical polymath as a lifelong mentor, who would you choose?

And more importantly: what specific skill, principle, or way of thinking would you want to learn from them?

Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.

Always Master the fundamentals.

I'm 22 and I really want to become more curious and well read about the world, but I have no idea how people actually build that kind of knowledge over time. I don't mean knowing random facts or trying to sound smart.

I find myself getting interested in everything like history, politics, science, philosophy, literature, cinema, psychology, economics, random cultural stuff but then I get overwhelmed because there are just so many things to learn. I’ll go down one rabbit hole and then find five more 😂

I sometimes feel like I'm consuming a lot but not actually retaining much.

For people here who are really curious about lots of different fields, how did you go about it? How do you decide what to learn next without getting overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information available?

As a polymath its hard to keep myself on track most of the time and not get demotivated or distracted. I was thinking of starting an insta account for example and using it as a journal so that I would feel pressured from the views(if any) and expectations to keep going. This kind of pressure is what works the best with me. The problem is I don't know how to make content and I don't have a good camera (only a Samsung A07) so i'm not confident. I also thought of doing this on reddit.

Are there any disadvantages or things I should consider b4 starting? does anyone have an experience to share? (motivate me plz)

**A little intro first**

^(You can skip this part if you just want to read the question)

After 47 years I think I have finally found my people. Researching ADHD and sleep optimization on Methylphenidate, I came across a word I never heard before. *Polymath*. I looked it up, read about it and something just clicked into place. Suddenly a repeating pattern of my life became so much clearer.

Through my life, I have always seemed to have an easy time mastering seemingly unrelated subjects. Digging deep into theoretical knowledge and practical application alike until I either couldn't get any better at it or lost interest due to some other subject competing for my attention.

Doesn't matter if it's mechanical engineering, software, languages, online games, practical 3D print applications, classic car restoration, biology or a hundred other subjects. The result is always the same. I can see patterns that others can't. Connect the dots between seemingly unrelated subjects.

Unfortunately I seem to forget a disproportionately large part of my knowledge, that I have to relearn when returning to a subject.

Now I *know* that there are limitations to how much and how fast the human brain can comprehend and retain knowledge. I accepted that. But I feel like I should be able to remember more than I currently am.

Many things will remain, for example I can tune a 4 barrel Holly carburetor in 1965 Ford Mustang 289 cui with a screwdriver and by sound alone, even though I haven't done it for a decade and I'm not a mechanic. Others will simply stop existing entirely. It's not that I can't remember them, it's like I never learned it in the first place. I'm a software engineer, but if you ask me to draw up the software stack from hardware to GUI, I couldn't do it if my life depended on it without looking it up first.

**Here comes the actual question.**

How do I train myself, learn methods or add procedures to optimize how large a part of the knowledge I aquire I am able retain and can recall when needed?

Are there any papers, books, YouTube channels or other resources that you would advice me to research?

I've always loved learning random things, going down rabbit holes, and becoming deeply interested in subjects that aren't necessarily useful for my degree or career. But I keep running into the same problem: I'll get obsessed with something for a while, learn a lot, and then eventually move on and feel like I'm back to being average again.

I'm interested in things like philosophy, history, geopolitics, writing, chess, science, cinema, sports, religion, psychology, and plenty of other random subjects.

I don't want to become someone who just consumes endless YouTube videos and Wikipedia pages. I actually want to develop deep, unusual knowledge and become the kind of person who can genuinely understand and discuss interesting subjects.

For people who have deliberately built themselves into knowledgeable generalists or developed unusual niches, what subjects or skills would you recommend exploring? And more importantly, how do you turn curiosity into actual expertise instead of constantly jumping from one rabbit hole to another?

I don’t just mean anecdotes or “Did you know Myers-Briggs is actually a myth?” Or something.

Just remember, don't burn yourself out or you'll start to gain diminishing returns on time and bandwidth invested.

Bjork on desirable difficulties:

The counterintuitive core: conditions that make learning feel harder and slower usually produce better retention. This is the single highest-yield thing for someone teaching themselves.

Sweller, cognitive load theory:

The constraint that explains why Bjork's effects work, and why most self-study setups fail.

Biggs, constructive alignment / SOLO:

How to tell what level of understanding you've actually reached rather than what you feel you've reached.

Hofer & Pintrich on personal epistemology:

Beliefs about what knowledge is shape how you go about getting it.

EDIT: I'm posting this here so everybody can pull from it.

#Quick cheat sheet for self-directed learning courtesy of GPT

THIS IS NOT A PROMPT SO DON'T USE IT LIKE THAT!

Use this as a guide, not a formula.

1. Retrieval Close the book/tab and try to explain what you learned from memory.

2. Spacing Return to important material after some time has passed instead of doing everything in one sitting.

3. Desirable difficulty Don't immediately remove every struggle. Some effort during retrieval and problem-solving is useful.

4. Cognitive load If something is overwhelming, reduce the number of new elements you're trying to process at once.

5. Chunking As concepts become familiar, connect individual facts into larger patterns, mechanisms, or schemas.

6. Self-explanation Ask yourself:

• Why does this work?
• What causes it?
• What would happen if one part changed?
• How does it connect to something I already know?

7. Interleaving Occasionally mix related problem types or concepts rather than practising only one type repeatedly.

8. Calibration Separate "this feels familiar" from "I can actually explain or use this."

Test yourself without looking.

9. Revisit Come back after a break and reconstruct the topic. Notice what survived, what disappeared, and what now makes more sense.

10. Transfer Try using the idea in a different example, problem, domain, or context.

11. Rest Sleep, breaks, and time away from deliberate study are part of the broader learning process. You do not need to be actively studying every waking hour.

12. Spiral Return to the same ideas at progressively greater depth:

learn → retrieve → apply → rest → revisit → connect → go deeper

Most importantly: don't confuse time spent studying with understanding.

#AND...for Pete's sake, don't type at a computer. Read from the screen and take hand written notes!

What are the things that you have learnt was so beautiful that it expanded your sense of self?

I learnt a lot of things in my high school. Each subject really helped me to expand my perception of the world. Especially physics, the more I understood about the laws of the universe, the more I felt myself smaller compared to the world. In a sense, it reduced my attention on myself and helped me to see the world beyond.

What are some things that you guys also felt a sense of wonder or beauty about?

​

Why?

Using pareto principle, 80% mastery or medium level mastery in multiple fields is enough to connect the dots to generate the insights. I would say this is functional polymath.

Just want to know, in this AI age of such vast information overload, is true polymathy even worth it?

Still, i respect true polymaths like da vinci,, von neumann etc

If you could instantly become insanley good at one skill

What do you choose ?

And don't say , making money 👀

Hey all!

I’m entering my final year economics undergrad and I really need some help/advice, a little context being my pivot to theoretical statistics at the masters level and desire to work in data science-esque jobs.

I have chosen the most difficult courses for educations sake, I am self-studying real analysis (flipping hard), I have to take on a research assistantship (I need the money, but have already been offered a role), and I need to learn some data structures and algorithms for data science job applications.

I really truly don’t know how I’m supposed to pull this all off as they are all necessary for my goals.

Please help 😭🙏