People Who Have “Too Many Interests” Are More Likely to Be Successful According to Research

If being a generalist was the path to mediocrity, why did the most comprehensive study of the most significant scientists in all of history uncover that 15 of the 20 were polymaths? Newton. Galileo. Aristotle. Kepler. Descartes. Huygens. Laplace. Faraday. Pasteur. Ptolemy. Hooke. Leibniz. Euler. Darwin. Maxwell — all polymaths.

If being a generalist was so ineffective, why are the founders of the five largest companies in the world — Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Warren Buffett, Larry Page, and Jeff Bezos — all polymaths

“The future belongs to the integrators.” — Educator Ernest Boyer

I define a modern polymath as someone who becomes competent in at least three diverse domains and integrates them into a top 1-percent skill set.

people have studied biology and sociology for hundreds of years. But no one had ever studied them together and synthesized them into a new discipline until researcher EO Wilson pioneered the field of sociobiology in the 1970s.

The idea itself drew on a coffeehouse of different disciplines: to solve the mystery, he had to think like a naturalist, a marine biologist, and a geologist all at once. He had to understand the life cycle of coral colonies, and observe the tiny evidence of organic sculpture on the rocks of the Keeling Islands; he had to think on the immense time scales of volcanic mountains rising and falling into the sea… To understand the idea in its full complexity required a kind of probing intelligence, willing to think across those different disciplines and scales

As Isaac Newton famously proclaimed, “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” In today’s era, we have more shoulders to stand on than ever.

I remember reading how a young Leonardo Da Vinci was frustrated that he was born in a period where everything worth being discovered had already been discovered. This quote stuck with me, because it was written by one of the greatest inventors in human history.

“It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.” -Charles Darwin

You can have the most valuable skill set in the world, but if everyone also has that skill set, then you’re a commodity.

By becoming a polymath and developing a unique skill set that few others have, then you’ll be able to differentiate yourself and charge more.

“In order to get into the top of the performance distribution, you have to escape from the crowd.” — Howard Marks, founder of Oaktree Capital ($2+ billion net worth)

“The best projects are likely to be overlooked, not trumpeted by a crowd; the best problems to work on are often the ones nobody else even tries to solve.” — Peter Thiel, founder of PayPal and billionaire investor ($3.3 billion net worth)

“You have to be odd to be number 1.” -Dr. Seuss

The weakness of an art is its dogma. And when I’m competing against an individual from a different discipline, I try to find the dogma of that discipline. When I’m competing with someone within a discipline, I try to find their personal dogma. — Josh Waitzkin, Chess Grandmaster & World Tai Chi Champion

Polymaths, on the other hand, are what Nassim Taleb calls “anti-fragile.” Changes to the environment make them stronger. As new paradigms of business emerge or their passions grow, they can quickly combine their existing skill sets in a myriad of ways.

“The greatest scientists are artists as well.” — Einstein