The Polymath: Unlocking the power of human versatility by Waqas Ahmed
I’ve been so busy lately with work and everything else, that I haven’t done much blog writing. I still read though. One of the books that I read was one about polymathy (One more, I should say). Polymathy is an intriguing subject for me.
The Polymath: Unlocking the power of human versatility by Waqas Ahmed, is an interesting and dense reading. Polymaths are multi-dimensional individuals that reject lifelong specialisation and instead tend to pursue various objectives that might seem disparate to the onlooker. They were driven by curiosity and a great desire for personal fulfilment.
Ahmed discusses the value of having a wide-ranging background and encourages people to expand their knowledge and interests across multiple fields. He makes some excellent points but I am not convinced that a few of the many people he mentions in his book can be considered as polymaths. Although Ahmed mentions a few female polymaths, too many of them are left out. Where is, for example, Olympe de Gouges, Marilyn vos Savant and Susan Sontag, to name just a few of women who made significant contributions to a series of fields.