Multipotentiality is an educational and psychological term referring to the ability and preference of a person, particularly one of strong intellectual or artistic curiosity, to excel in two or more different fields.[1][2]
It can also refer to an individual whose interests span multiple fields or areas, rather than being strong in just one. Such traits are called multipotentialities, while "multipotentialites" has been suggested as a name for those with this trait.
By contrast, those whose interests lie mostly within a single field are called "specialists".[3]
History
Etymology
An early instance of the term in the record comes from relevant research in giftedness.
In 1972, R.H. Frederickson et al. defined a multipotentialed person as someone who, "when provided with appropriate environments, can select and develop a number of competencies to a high level".[4][5]
On October 22, 2008, Douglas Hannay began a blog that lasted some eight years. His first blog referred to multipotentializing as excelling in multiple fields of energy. The blog was then copied in its entirety to Facebook on September 22, 2016, after viewing Emilie Wapnick's TED talk on being a multipotentialite during October 2015.
In 2010, multipotentiality appeared again in Tamara Fisher's article in Education Week. She defines it thus:[1]
Multipotentiality is the state of having many exceptional talents, any one or more of which could make for a great career for that person.
—Tamara Fisher, Education Week
During 2015, Emilie Wapnick coined[6] the term "multipotentialite", perhaps to establish a shared identity for the community. They define it this way:[7][8]
A multipotentialite is someone with many interests and creative pursuits.
Although multipotentialite is a modern term, the idea of someone with many passions is not new. Any student of history often hears mention of polymaths or Renaissance people. Multipotentialites have, indeed, existed as long as human societies.
While the strengths of multipotentialites are not always appreciated in post-industrial capitalist societies, there have been times throughout history when being well-versed in multiple disciplines was considered the ideal. And, of course, multipotentiality is highly valued in certain spaces, contexts and cultures today.
When multipotentialites are supported and encouraged to embrace their diverse skills and experiences, they're able to tap into their super powers: idea synthesis, rapid learning, adaptability, big picture thinking, relating to and translating between different types of people, "languages", and modes of thought.
The ability to draw from and integrate a range of diverse ideas makes multipotentialites particularly well-suited to solving complex, multifactorial problems. And, their unconventional backgrounds help them develop unique voices and contribute fresh perspectives wherever they go.
—Emilie Wapnick, Terminology, Puttylike
Relevant terminology
While the term "multipotentialite" is often used interchangeably with polymath or Renaissance Person, the terms are not identical. One need not be an expert in any particular field to be a multipotentialite.
Indeed, Isis Jade [who?] makes a clear distinction between multipotentiality and polymaths.[9] Multipotentiality refers simply to one's potential in multiple fields owing to his/her diverse interests and attempts. Polymaths, on the other hand, are distinguished by their mastery and expertise in several fields. In this sense, multipotentialites can be viewed as potential polymaths.
Other terms used to refer to multipotentialites are "scanners", "slashers", "generalist", "multipassionate", "RP2", and "multipods", among others.[7]
Context
With the advent of the industrial age, cultural norms have shifted in favor of specialization.[10][11] Indeed, in the modern day, the more narrow the specialization, the higher the pay and respect accorded, for example: PhD graduates, and specialized lawyers, doctors, and engineers. The aphorism Jack of all trades, master of none emphasizes this. Older emphasis towards generalism and multiple potentials such as Renaissance humanism and the Renaissance man were replaced.
However, the convergence economy, Internet age, connectivity, the rise of the Creative Class, and other modern developments are bringing about a return of a more positive opinion for generalists and multipotentialites.
In Specialization, Polymaths And The Pareto Principle In A Convergence Economy, Jake Chapman writes:[12]
Economists tell us that the history of human labor is one of continually increasing specialization. In the days of the hunter-gatherer, every member of the tribe would have been expected to command some degree of proficiency with each task.
As we progressed along the economic continuum from hunter-gatherer through agrarian and industrial and now into post-industrial economies, the labor force has become more fragmented, with workers having more and more specialized skill sets. ... Historically, specialization has been a path to prosperity. Although specialization has certain economic advantages, in the era of technological convergence, well-educated generalists will be those who are the most valuable. It is time for a renaissance of the "Renaissance Man". ... The Renaissance thinkers recognized both the potential of individuals as well as the enormous value to being well-rounded. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way the idea of someone who dabbled in many fields lost its cultural appeal and we began to praise those who sought deep subject matter expertise.
We now live in a world where distinctions between formerly separate industries are breaking down and the real opportunities for growth are where those industries intersect. Harnessing these 21st-century opportunities will require people who are "jacks of all trades, masters of none", or, perhaps more accurately, master polymaths.
—Jake Chapman
Business
Organizations such as startups that require adaptability and holding multiple roles can employ several multipotentialites and have one specialist as a resource.
In Specialization, Polymaths And The Pareto Principle In A Convergence Economy, Chapman said:
In the modern world, where a very common job might require someone to be a social-media expert, public speaker, writer and data analyst, the polymath wins and the deep subject-matter expert is relegated to a back corner to be used as a resource for others. As an investor, if I were going to pick the perfect team, it would be a group of rock-star polymaths with a single subject matter expert as a resource.
—Jake Chapman, In Specialization, Polymaths And The Pareto Principle In A Convergence Economy
Stretch Magazine discusses the role of multipotentialites in organizations and how they will believe they will be more in demand in the future.[13][14]
Proponents of specialization above cite excellence and its perceived higher rewards compared to mediocrity in everything. Proponents of multiple capabilities below emphasize the importance of adaptability.
In "Master of Many Trades", Robert Twigger goes so far as to coin the word "monopath": "It means a person with a narrow mind, a one-track brain, a bore, a super-specialist, an expert with no other interests — in other words, the role-model of choice in the Western world."[19]
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
—Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough for Love
In an article on the decline of polymathy, Felipe Fernández-Armesto wrote, "Universities bear some responsibility for its extinction. Classical Greece, Renaissance Italy and Victorian England all revered and rewarded generalists, for whom today universities have little or no space or patience. Enclosed departments in discrete spaces, with their own journals and jargons, are a legacy of lamentable, out-of-date ways of organising knowledge and work."[20]
Impact
In a world that overvalues specialization, the term and its increasing popularity (especially among the blogging community) have contributed to the revival of awareness on the importance of generalists. It was even used in a competition's training session.[21]
In the current economy, Creativity and the rise of the Creative Class are linked to divergent thinking and innovative solutions to current problems.[22] Because new ideas can be found in the intersection of multiple fields,[23][24] they would benefit from the advantages of multipotentialites.
↑ Fredrickson, R. H. (1 February 1979). "Career development and the gifted". In Colangelo, N.; Zaffrann, R. T. (eds.). New Voices in Counseling the Gifted. Kendall‐Hunt Dubuque, Iowa. pp.264–276. ISBN978-0-840-31998-2.
↑ Root-Bernstein, Robert; Root-Bernstein, Michele (2013). Sparks of genius: The thirteen thinking tools of the world's most creative people. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Wapnick, Emilie (2017). How to Be Everything: A Guide for Those Who (Still) Don't Know What They Want to Be When They Grow Up. [San Francisco, Ca.]: HarperOne. ISBN978-0062566652.
Waquet, F, (ed.) "Mapping the World of Learning: The 'Polyhistor' of Daniel Georg Morhof" (2000).
In science and history, consilience is the principle that evidence from independent, unrelated sources can "converge" on strong conclusions. That is, when multiple sources of evidence are in agreement, the conclusion can be very strong even when none of the individual sources of evidence is significantly so on its own. Most established scientific knowledge is supported by a convergence of evidence: if not, the evidence is comparatively weak, and there will probably not be a strong scientific consensus.
The Pareto principle states that for many outcomes, roughly 80% of consequences come from 20% of causes.
A polymath or polyhistor is an individual whose knowledge spans many different subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems.
Vilfredo Federico Damaso Pareto was an Italian polymath, whose areas of interest included sociology, civil engineering, economics, political science, and philosophy. He made several important contributions to economics, particularly in the study of income distribution and in the analysis of individuals' choices. He was also responsible for popularising the use of the term elite in social analysis.
Mathematical optimization or mathematical programming is the selection of a best element, with regard to some criteria, from some set of available alternatives. It is generally divided into two subfields: discrete optimization and continuous optimization. Optimization problems arise in all quantitative disciplines from computer science and engineering to operations research and economics, and the development of solution methods has been of interest in mathematics for centuries.
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When children are young, schools begin to analyze the youngsters’ abilities and sort them into clusters based on their predicted success. The system labels the cream of the crop as gifted. Clark (2002) defines giftedness as “only a label that society gives to those who have actualized their ability to an unusually high degree or give evidence that such achievement is imminent”. The American government defines giftedness as “students, children or youth who give evidence of high performance capability in areas such as intellectual, creative, artistic, or leadership capacity, or in specific academic fields, and who require services or activities not ordinarily provided by the school in order to fully develop such capabilities”. Gifted students learn in a different manner and at an accelerated rate compared to their peers in the classroom and therefore require gifted programs to develop and apply their talents.
Henry Guy Jenkins III is an American media scholar and Provost Professor of Communication, Journalism, and Cinematic Arts, a joint professorship at the University of Southern California (USC) Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and the USC School of Cinematic Arts. He also has a joint faculty appointment with the USC Rossier School of Education. Previously, Jenkins was the Peter de Florez Professor of Humanities as well as co-founder and co-director of the Comparative Media Studies program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He has also served on the technical advisory board at ZeniMax Media, parent company of video game publisher Bethesda Softworks. In 2013, he was appointed to the board that selects the prestigious Peabody Award winners.
A generalist is a person with a wide array of knowledge on a variety of subjects, useful or not. It may also refer to:
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Multi-objective optimization or Pareto optimization is an area of multiple-criteria decision making that is concerned with mathematical optimization problems involving more than one objective function to be optimized simultaneously. Multi-objective is a type of vector optimization that has been applied in many fields of science, including engineering, economics and logistics where optimal decisions need to be taken in the presence of trade-offs between two or more conflicting objectives. Minimizing cost while maximizing comfort while buying a car, and maximizing performance whilst minimizing fuel consumption and emission of pollutants of a vehicle are examples of multi-objective optimization problems involving two and three objectives, respectively. In practical problems, there can be more than three objectives.
Yew-Kwang Ng is a Malaysian-Australian economist, who is currently Special Chair Professor of Economics at Fudan University, Shanghai, and a Distinguished Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. He has published in a variety of academic disciplines and is best known for his work in welfare economics.
The concept of T-shaped skills, or T-shaped persons is a metaphor used in job recruitment to describe the abilities of persons in the workforce. The vertical bar on the letter T represents the depth of related skills and expertise in a single field, whereas the horizontal bar is the ability to collaborate across disciplines with experts in other areas and to apply knowledge in areas of expertise other than one's own.
Feminism in Italy originated during the Italian Renaissance period, beginning in the late 13th century. Italian writers such as Moderata Fonte, Lucrezia Marinella, and others developed the theoretical ideas behind gender equality. In contrast to feminist movements in France and United Kingdom, early women's rights advocates in Italy emphasized women's education and improvement in social conditions.
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Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World is a 2019 book by David Epstein, in which he expands on the points from his previous book The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance to make a more general argument against overspecialization. In the book, he argues that range – defined as more diverse experience across multiple fields – is more relevant in today's society than specialization because the wicked problems of the modern world require bridging experience and knowledge from multiple fields to foster solutions. Range was a #1 New York Times best seller.
The Polymath: Unlocking the Power of Human Versatility is a non-fiction book by British author Waqas Ahmed, first published in 2018. It argues that specialisation in education and workplaces stifles human curiosity and human potential which naturally transcend subject areas. And that professional institutions have erected walls to keep outsiders out. Ahmed argues that a new approach — one which recognises and fosters versatility — is urgently needed in the modern world. He writes that this would help people both to lead more fulfilling lives and to develop solutions to complex, multi-dimensional problems. The book draws on historical, psychological, and neuroscientific research and profiles living and historical polymaths from many cultures.
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