The Curse Of Being A Polymath
Being a polymath is both a blessing and a curse. You are blessed with immense curiosity. You are also cursed to follow all of it. Each interest comes with its own urgency. You end up chasing everything at the same time. This urgency is what creates the problem for a polymath. You get exhausted. You feel as if there are not enough hours in the day. You are constantly running, trying to absorb as much as possible in as little time as possible.
I know this because I am one. I am a trader. I write short stories. I have already outlined two novels. I have published two fiction books. I have written more than ten historical mini e-books on Indian history because I am an amateur historian. I continue to post daily essays on my blog.
I have a Twitter account where I write every day. I have a demanding job with a four-hour commute. I am a voracious reader. My Kindle e-reader’s battery lasts less than a week. Physical fitness is part of my routine. I love watching movies on weekends. I am learning physics. By the next quarter, I will likely have covered elementary physics as well as some complex theoretical concepts.
And yet, I feel I have not done enough. I want to learn the piano and the guitar. I want to learn coding. I am already proficient in three languages in writing, reading, and speaking. Yet I want to learn French, which I tried for a while and then gave up due to lack of time. I want to learn Sanskrit. I want to learn mathematics.
You can imagine my mental state right now. While thinking about all this, I continue to strive to improve my writing. I read a lot, and so I realise that I am not that great a writer. But I digress. I know what being a polymath sounds like. It is not just about having many interests. It is about pursuing all of them with the same urgency, as if they are all equally important. Occasionally, this will drain you. Then you will wonder what the point of anything is.
The beautiful thing about being a polymath is the ability to synthesise information from multiple streams of learning. Nobody is better at connecting the dots. You are the kind of person who can link historical events with contemporary ones without any obvious causality. People often refer to you as an encyclopedia or, in today’s terms, ChatGPT. But inside, you know you are not truly satisfied with any of the things you do. Because you want to do them well. This is the curse of a polymath.
A unique problem requires a unique solution. While the world recommends focusing on one thing, I recommend focusing on one thing at a time. Divide your pursuits into phases. Allocate a few days or weeks to pursue only one thing. Treat that activity as a project. Do not pursue anything else until the project is complete. Then move on to a different project. Over a year, you will have accomplished many small projects.
Being interested in many things can lead to mastery only if you allocate time to pursue them individually. Otherwise, you risk becoming a jack of all trades and master of none. Da Vinci was a famous polymath who excelled at many things. Every subject demands time, patience, and practice.
Being a polymath feels like a curse when you try to achieve everything at once. It becomes a blessing when you learn how to channel that curiosity into mastery across domains. Not many people are gifted with this relentless urge to decode the world. If you are one of them, be grateful and make use of it. And while you are at it, pray for me that I manage to do the same before I burn out.