@rianvdm @simondlr for whatever reason I read it in voice of the narrator from The Stanley Parable.

@rianvdm @simondlr I don't know if it's my adhd but sticking to one subject limits me. Every time I learn something new, it gives me new perspectives and feeds into the other things and makes all my skills and knowledge improve in different ways. Learning a language for example, widens my knowledge of how different languages work and helps me to understand etymology better and helps me more easily remember new words in all other subjects.

@rianvdm @simondlr I’d like to add the hashtag #adhd to this. 👍

@rianvdm @simondlr so much love this comic!

@rianvdm @simondlr "topic wanderer", love it!

@rianvdm @simondlr #AltText4You Comic with 4 panels.

1. Happy figure 1 has one skill maxed to “Great” on a “Bad Good Great” scale. “You can achieve greatness if you focus fully on one thing”.

2. Sad figure 2 has many skills in the Bad and Good side. “If you have too many interests you will never reach your full potential”.

3. Figure 2 climbs their skills “Wait, where the F are you going?”

5. They climbed a wall. They now see the beautiful ocean on the other side.

@rianvdm @simondlr some of my favorite people are wildcards like us.

@rianvdm @simondlr the original artist can be found at https://www.skeletonclaw.com/ they've got some great comics

@rianvdm @simondlr Precisely. My mediocre skills in many disciplines are why I've survived this long. Had I focused on just one skill, then the second that skill was no longer needed, I would have starved.

@rianvdm @simondlr

"it is important for him who wants to discover not to confine himself to one chapter of science, but to keep in touch with various others."

– Jacques Hadamard, "An Essay on The Psychology of Invention in the Mathematical Field" (1949)

@rianvdm @simondlr Reminded me of this Kurt Vonnegut quote:

https://quotes.thecommonvein.net/vonnegut-kurt/

@rianvdm @simondlr

So much love for this

@rianvdm @simondlr I am exceptional at being mediocre. If I were a superhero, I would be Mediocre-Man. My Sidekick would be Normal Distribution boy...

@rianvdm @simondlr Generalist:
dull
uninspired
superficial knowledge
Renaissance person:
mysterious
has a muse
plumbs the depths of arcane realms

@rianvdm @simondlr loving the philosophy of this, in a way it implies getting a better overview of everything when standing on top of your various skills/interests!

nothing wrong with being interested in everything around you IMHO.

Many things have intersectional truths and patterns that you don't find if you only focus on a single subject.

I'd say to achieve true greatness you need to be able to think outside the box, which doesn't work if you only focus on the contents of the box :)

@rianvdm @simondlr
"Jack of all trades, master of none, though oftentimes better than master of one"

@rianvdm @simondlr

I love the word "omnipotential" (potential ~ possibility) but it is way too close to omnipotence to describe someone with it.

@rianvdm @simondlr Everything Everwhere

@rianvdm @simondlr I like the term renaissance woman. :) this needs alt text. 🩵

@rianvdm @simondlr that's me. 😊

@rianvdm @simondlr perfection!

@rianvdm @simondlr If I know one word from every language, what value it brings? If I know 300 words from one language, I clearly see the value. I'm guessing the graph reflects moderate investment into the interests, which on other hand prevent having too many interests.

@rianvdm @simondlr oh wow, this was vindicating straight to my core.

I think I need to print this out.

@rianvdm @simondlr Once we were called "multi talents" or even high scholars. Now it's apparently bad because that way you can't extract value as much or sth.? Not be "the best in the world" or some other nonsense?

Love this comic.

@rianvdm @simondlr @dieKadda it’s missing an important bar, the „Learning“ bar which is the fundamental basis for all the others

@rianvdm @simondlr
In that case I think you would really really like the book Range by David Epstein
(haven't read the newsletter so apologies if it's already mentioned!)

@rianvdm @simondlr

And I've seen other terms used out there like "multi-specialist" or "pluri-specialist" but that also fails to capture the gamut and complexity of whatever it is people have to be classified as.

@rianvdm @simondlr @inthehands The reference is now kind of dated but I always liked what a friend said: Some folks find a true calling. Some of us just have true call waiting.

@rianvdm @simondlr so many great things have come from noticing a connection between things in different topics

@rianvdm @simondlr
Right there is the argument for a liberal arts education.

@rianvdm @simondlr
Jack of all trades
A master of none
Is still far better
Than a master of one

@rianvdm @simondlr co-sign. - ironically a subspecialist in a medical field.

@rianvdm @simondlr @hannu_ikonen
.
“synthesizer”

@rianvdm @simondlr Pfft. Tell that to Da Vinci.

@rianvdm @simondlr thank you so much

@rianvdm @simondlr people with ADHD be like

@rianvdm @simondlr I've met general knowledge and enjoy hanging with them. Life would be so boring if I wasn't ET/CT with hobbies in Neurology and psychiatry. And a dozen other subjects.

@rianvdm @simondlr In spanish there is a word for this: “polímata” (who is interested in and has reasonable knowlegde about lots of topics). Da Vinci, Aristoteles, T.E.Lawrence… such type of people.

@rianvdm “topic wanderer” goes straight to my top 10 list of expressions I’ll use to describe myself from now on 🧡

@rianvdm @simondlr one word many people use for this is #multipotentialite , it’s a natural personality type that is just not seen as that much valuable in our culture but is essential for our society to move forward.

@rianvdm @simondlr

Excellent cartoon, witty and wise!

My alias here is The Roamer for a reason! Specialising on a particular field is important, it's necessary. But wandering around the whole landscape puts our specialism into context. It makes us better specialists.