What Good Are Generalists, Anyway?

The World has seen a steady increase in specialization over the past century. This is no secret. In fact, it has become much more 'normal' to specialize than to be a generalist in the modern world.  But, we wouldn't need to stretch too far back in history to find a time when almost all people were generalists to some degree. Not very long ago, most people needed to know how to build their own homes, to grow their own food, to hunt, to determine the mechanics of and build a windmill, to assess the advantageous biological traits that would pass on through breeding. Not long ago, reading literature and playing music were nearly the only form of everyday entertainment, and writing letters was nearly the only form of long-distance communication.

Of course, cars and airplanes had not been invented, much less computers, and plenty of people were dying every day from Small Pox, among other horrible diseases.  And, there was no such thing as Super String Theory. So, obviously we have made some progress, albeit in which direction remains to be seen.

Is hyper-specialization truly the future of humanity? Are we destined to become further and further specialized? Will we need to have 8 physicians present in the exam room, each reporting on something specific to inform us of the totality of our ailments? Perhaps it is so. And, perhaps it ought to be so. There are certainly many positive things that could be said about specialization.

None come to mind at the moment, but I'm sure there's something.

However, what say you for the generalist?  What say you for the man who refuses to specialize - for the man who cannot specialize? What say you for the man to whom specialization is anathema? Is the generalist a Quagga, never able to decide whether to be a horse or a zebra, bound for extinction? What good is a generalist, anyway?

The Creative Innovator 

Possibly the greatest trait of the generalist is his ability to innovate. Never was this truer than in the persona of Leonardo da Vinci, but there are many, many other examples of creatively innovative generalists throughout time (I welcome your favorite examples in the comments). A generalist draws upon all of his varied life experiences in every daily task.  When he is presented with a problem, it is likely that he has had some alternative life experience from which to draw in order to solve it creatively.  This is the proverbial 'thinking outside the box' paradigm. A generalist, by his very nature, seeks out multiple and varied life experiences in order to remain contented, and these varied experiences supply him with the ideas to cross-pollinate solutions into other areas of his life. I would submit, in fact, that most innovations spring from a generalistic well.  In many cases the generalist is probably the instigator of the innovative idea, whereupon the specialist is either contracted to hone, elaborate upon, or simply steals the idea outright.

It is almost necessary that a new, creative innovation originate with a generalist, or at least a generalistic thought. The reason it hadn't been thought of before is precisely because it took the unique life experience of that particular creative individual to bring his experience to bear upon the problem. It is the generalist who connects his past experiences in a way that no specialist could when the statement "I wish there was something that would make this be this way," or "I wish there was something that would do this" is issued. This statement, whether issued by the generalist within himself or by another person, sets a chain-reaction of memory and creativity alight within the generalist's mind. He connects the dots. He has used, seen, or done something similar in the past that just might work with a little modification in this situation. Completely unrelated to the original application perhaps, but definitely applicable with some minor, situation-specific modifications.

It is not absolutely necessary for the generalistic idea to spring from a generalist, mind you. Even the most specialized specialist will have life experience to create a few connecting dots here or there. However, a true generalist will necessarily have many more dots to connect, thereby increasing the chances that the innovation originates with him.    

The Empathetic Humanist

Because of the Generalist's wandering and multipathic nature, he has created for himself the opportunity to 'see how the other half live', whomever they might be. The generalist has therefore developed an uncanny ability to 'fit in' among several different types of crowds. He can apply his life experience with individuals from all walks of life to any situation. He is chameleonic without straying into conformity. He can choose his words carefully based upon his experiential knowledge of how this particular audience will hear those words. More than that, he has actually been this audience at one point or another, which is why he has this ability. He has 'walked a mile in their shoes', so the saying goes, and is therefore able to relate empathetically to them.

Generalists have this ability to empathize where specialists do not because of their varied life experience with a multitude of people, places and things. Specialists tend to congregate amongst their own, and therefore have a much narrower world view. It can almost not be helped. These are the experiences that each has known throughout his life, but the Generalist has known many different and varied types of people, places, and things, where the Specialist has known relatively few by comparison. It could be said that the Specialist will end up knowing a certain type of person very well, but it is then also true that the Generalist will know people well.

This trait is useful in that generalists tend to be very good communicators. They tend to understand which words will play well with certain people and which words will not.  They also tend to know how to say things in a way that most people will understand. They can take in and understand a specialist's communication and break it down in a way that will be understood by many dissonantly-specialized people, as well as the common lay-person, which is becoming more and more important as our world becomes ever more hyper-specialized. Sticking within the communications realm, generalists tend to make very good marketers and/or salesmen because of their ability to understand how several different types of people will react to stimuli, an obvious benefit when one is trying to convince someone to buy or do something.

Generalists tend to know people well, and are therefore better than most at managing them. A generalist tends to understand what will motivate and/or dissuade a person from doing or not doing something.  Again, the Generalist has probably been in the same or very similar situation to the one in which the person they are managing is, and is therefore able to call upon his life experience to understand how that person will be motivated.  Because of this, a generalist even has the ability to be persuasive to the point of manipulation, albeit in a generally empathetic way. This tends to leave generalists in a good position to become Human Resource Managers or Behavioral Therapists, for instance.

The Climber

Generalists are not very good at specialization; it is actually repulsive to them in varying degrees. This is in some way what motivates the generalist more than most to 'climb the ladder'. There is only so much time that a generalist will tolerate the mail room, literally or figuratively. He will either move on or move up. Very often he will be moving up, rung by rung, until at some point he finds that he is at the top of the ladder.  The view can tend to be nice up there for a generalist.  CEOs and Executive Managers of companies big and small are, by necessity, generalists. They do not have time to specialize in every aspect of the organization in order to be effective, even if that was their desire.

However, most generalists have a great ability to see 'the big picture' more effectively than most, which suits them well in this position. Generalists can piece together many disparate parts of the puzzle in order to make decisions about the broad directions that need to be taken in any given organization. Although the generalist will necessarily not be a specialist in every aspect of the company or organization's operations, he will be somewhat proficient in many of the areas for which he is being briefed on a regular basis, allowing him to generally know enough of everything to make the good decisions that need to be made in a changing environment.

It should be noted that this trait is not only a useful one in the business world, but also with respect to leadership in general. Generalists, for instance, can make fantastic social and military leaders because of their ability to connect the dots and see the big picture that others might not see.

The Trustworthy Sage

History has always valued the 'Wise Man'. This is the guy you go to when you just need some general advice about something, and he usually has a pretty intelligent answer to offer. He is an educated man, but more than that he is a man with varied and useful experience. Even when he doesn't necessarily know the answer to the question, he can surmise a relatively good guess from his other varied and useful life experiences, as well as his education. And, if all else fails, he can at least suggest where to find the answer if he does not have it. This is a guy you can trust because he generally steers you in the right direction.

In many ways, the World needs more of these men.  Trust is a disappearing commodity, it seems, in our time, along with wisdom (sadly). Perhaps that seemed true in every time, and perhaps that is a cynical thought, but in a world where many of the 'educated' people know very little about anyone else, and where plenty of the education they do have is coming from sources such as 'reality' TV, it is hard not to become cynical. Think about men such as Thomas Jefferson and/or Benjamin Franklin. Where are these men in our time, and can their tempered voices rise above the cacophonous buzz of argumentative specialist 'experts' even if they do still exist?

It seems people are listening to and taking advice more and more from the specialists. This is the kind of thing that leads one to the knowledge that eating salmon will both cure your heart disease and cancer, as well as kill you horrifically via mercury poisoning, all in the same week. Perhaps we should have just been listening to the wise man all along who said: "anything in moderation."



So, that's about everything that generalists are good for (not really; there's much more).

Here's one last thing, though: Generalists are much more fun than specialists. It's been scientifically proven.

Well, there you go, you've wasted another good fifteen minutes of your life when you could have been fishing or playing Angry Birds or something.

As usual, please don't hesitate to add to this with your comments, and if you find any of this interesting, don't hesitate to subscribe and/or spread it around.

And, just in case anyone was going to comment on this, let me save you the trouble: yes, you can substitute 'she' for 'he' in any of the above post.

How To Be A Renaissance Dad (Part II)

This is a follow-up to my previous post, which you can either scroll down to read, or read here.

So, now that you are a renaissance dad, and you are successfully juggling the child-rearing and your wandering/eclectic tendencies, managing to keep your children fed and clothed to a relatively successful degree, it is time to start thinking about doing your damnedest to raise your kids in a way that will produce the well-rounded character in them that you have come to believe is important for any individual to possess, but especially your own offspring. Now, parenting is difficult.  And, of course, there are things that will be out of your control altogether.  You cannot force your children to enjoy the same things you do, and in fact the harder you try to do that, the more they will probably resent the things that you like or want them to like.  So, this isn't going to be a lesson in teaching your children to be like you, as much as a lesson in teaching your children how to think like you, or more specifically, how to think broadly.  Obviously, this is slightly less obvious than telling them, "Think broadly, will you!".

I should also add that every child is different, and of course I do not presume to know every thing about every  one of them, so these are going to be somewhat general guidelines garnered from my own experiences and tangentially the experiences/mistakes of other parents whom I've known.

I'm sure many of you have heard the stories of the Tiger Mothers who spend lifetimes insisting that their children master the violin, and making sure that they do so by essentially holding their children hostage and forcing them to practice hours upon hours a day.  These Tiger Mothers also do not accept their children doing any worse than As in every subject, and in fact they are generally harshly disappointed if their children are not the top student in every class that they attend.  There are plenty of detractors from this type of parenting, and I must say I'm not a huge proponent of every aspect of it either, especially the degree and the tendency toward specialization; however, there is some merit to the overall concept of doing your best to make your child the best at everything they do.  Who wouldn't want that?

Here is the major caveat: the Tiger Mother philosophy seems to neglect at least some of the very important life skills attained through strictly social interactions. Your child needs social interaction with his peers in order to understand how to deal with the myriad 'types' of people he is bound to encounter throughout his life. Your child will be much more 'successful' in life if he is able to relate to all of his peers in a social, non-professional way. The reality is, he will be much more likely to get that promotion if he is not only very proficient in his field, but also able to crack a joke with the boss over a few beers than he will if he is an expert in his field, but awkwardly silent or worse when it comes to social interactions because he doesn't know how to relate to people on a personal level (because he's had his nose stuffed in a book his whole damn life and wasn't allowed to be in the school play). People are social animals.  Our evolution is based at least in part on dealing with each other socially. So, go ahead and let your kid be in the school play and go to prom. Let him learn how to kiss a girl. It's actually good for him (and her).

It should also be understood that just as you will never be the best at everything you do, no matter how hard you try, your children will also not be the best at everything they do.  That is just realism, however harsh it might be.  I'm sorry to all of the disappointed Tiger Mothers out there: your children are not the best at everything.  In fact, your devotion to pounding a certain set of skills into them has made them pathetically deficient in other areas (Dance comes to mind). There will always be someone better at this thing or that, especially when you consider that there are many, many people willing to specialize and dedicate a lifetime to a specific niche.  However, just as every renaissance man knows that being 'the best' is not as important as the journey that he took toward becoming 'very good' at many things, which is what made him into the fantastically well-rounded man that he is today, the renaissance dad should also know that it is equally important for his children to have that journey.

So, once again, I have compiled a list of guidelines to help the Renaissance Dad succeed where the Tiger Mother might not.

Or, in other words:

Why Renaissance Dads Are Superior

A Renaissance Dad Expects Perfection.

Yes, of course I know that I just told you that your child will not be 'the best' at everything.  However, this is no excuse to telegraph that hard-core realism to them.  Your children do not yet know that they cannot be the best at whatever they do.  They should be made to believe that they can be the best, even if that means that you need to express some (tempered and constructive) disappointment in their less-than-perfect accomplishments from time to time.  There are far too many children being praised for far too little these days.  Do not praise your child for being mediocre or even 'sort-of' good.  Do express disappointment if your child does not succeed at something.  Do let them know that you expect the best from them.  Do put in the work required to help them be excellent (i.e. helping with violin practice and math homework). 

I realize this seems somewhat antithetical to the modern approach, and I can certainly see why some parents would want to 'just let their children be', so to speak (that is certainly the easiest way to parent in the short term), but childhood, especially early childhood, is no time for freedom.  No child wants to work.  It is a parent's job to make them work.  No child wants to spend an hour practicing violin or doing math homework, but that is why they make parents.  Your child will never be 'very good' at anything, other than perhaps pushing your buttons, unless you always expect perfection from them and teach them the value of work.  But don't forget the most important part: always give them copious amounts of praise when they do succeed or do something excellent.  This is the key that will unlock their desire to continue succeeding and doing excellent things.

A Renaissance Dad Teaches What Schools Don't. 

This rule has a many layers. On the surface, there is of course the fact that most (American public) schools do a relatively poor job educating children in almost every discipline these days.  Notably, kids are being left more and more ignorant in the math and science fields, and music and arts education is practically non-existent in modern public schools; whereas, physical education (sports) and English education (for native speakers) seem to remain somewhat strong. It is your job to determine in which areas your child's school is doing an adequate or better job, and then determine where to fill in the gaps, and fill them in you must.

I'm sure I don't need to tell anyone the importance of a good education in math and science, but the arts, it seems from the amount of education dollars spent, have come to be viewed as 'unnecessary' in modern childhood development.  This is true even though numerous, long-term studies have shown that an education in the arts will improve a child's overall education in all disciplines. So, it is up to you, Dad, to fill in the gaps that the schools are leaving.  Encourage your child to be artistic. Spend extra time with them as needed to help them be proficient with math and the sciences. Don't let the school be your child's only instructor, especially if it is failing to instruct adequately.  

A secondary layer to this rule is teaching your children things that schools can't and never have been able to teach, and for which you are really the perfect instructor.  There are so many things in this category that are important, it will be difficult to list them all, but here are a few: fishing, hunting, awareness and appreciation of nature, gardening, automotive maintenance, construction/repair, basic mechanics, how to pass a soccer ball, stoicism in the face of pain, etc, etc, etc... This is essentially just being a good dad, but of course you need to take the time to do so. The good part about this is that it is often quite enjoyable.

A Renaissance Dad Teaches By Example. 

Educating your child will never be successful unless you can back your words up with action. Kids are smart.  They will see through hypocrisy when they are less than one year old.  They understand what conviction looks like at a very early age. If you are telling your children to be excellent, but you are doing little yourself to continually strive for excellence without someone telling you to do so, your kids will understand that hard work is only important enough to get you off their backs, and once they don't have anyone 'pushing' them, they are free to settle.  

Now, if you are a true renaissance man, this will not be a problem for you.  You will constantly be seeking improvement in your own life.  You will continually be striving for excellence in everything you do, and perpetually learning about new and interesting things.  Your lust for knowledge will be transparent, and it will be contagious.  Let your children see you read.  Let them see you practice things until you become good at them.  Show them that attaining excellence is not easy, and is actually hard work (even for you).  

Also, show them that you are proud of your own achievements when you do achieve a goal.  Tell them of your accomplishments and what it took to earn them. This will free them to be proud of themselves when they succeed, which will be the internal engine that drives them toward excellence when you are not around.

A Renaissance Dad Teaches How To Learn, Not What To Learn. 

I would venture a guess that every dad harbors some hope that his children will grow to love the same things he does.  In reality, this is seldom the case.  In fact, it is probably more often the case that his children will be somewhat resistant to the specific dreams and aspirations that he had.  This is not a bad thing. Allow your children some flexibility to choose their own interests, and they will follow them with greater devotion than if they had had them thrust upon them by you. 

For instance, if you want your child to play violin, don't just tell them they will be learning the violin. Rather, suggest to them that they should learn to play music and ask them which instrument appeals to them. Maybe suggest the violin, and even let them play with your violin to see if it clicks for them. But, if they happen to decide they want to play the Tuba instead, don't insist on the violin; go with the Tuba. You will spend much less time pulling your disappearing hair out if you allow them to choose their own interests rather than forcing your interests upon them.  

Now, once they choose Tuba, you will need to teach them how to learn Tuba. This includes teaching them that anything worth learning is going entail a lot of work.  Once they have expressed an interest, don't allow them to quit on their interests or themselves.  As was mentioned previously, kids do not want to work inherently.  They do not yet understand the rewards that hard work gains. This is something that they will learn once they have achieved something as a result of their own hard work. If they are allowed to quit the things that they start, they will never know this sense of achievement, and will therefore not be driven to accomplish great things. 

In other words, they will never learn to love playing the Tuba until they understand the rewards, accomplished through unyielding practice, that Tuba virtuosity holds. Don't let them tell you that they all of a sudden want to play the violin after two months of playing the Tuba. This is a trick to appeal to your vanity, violin-playing renaissance man. Make them stick to the things they have chosen until they have succeeded, lest they become 'dabblers'.  

Also, think about how you learn new things, and teach your children the importance of how to learn. As a renaissance man, you excel at learning new things. What do you do when you want to learn something new? You read copious amounts of information about it, get some schooling in the subject, seek out experts to teach you, practice, research, practice, practice. Show them how to learn. Don't just teach them what you know. Teach them how you know it. This will enable them to learn new things well for a lifetime.

A Renaissance Dad Realizes That Happiness Is Success. 

I've hit upon this theme a number of times in previous posts, and I probably can't stress the importance of this general philosophy enough. This rule runs strictly against the grain of the Tiger Mother philosophy at a fundamental level. Too often, people gauge their own success by how big of a house or boat they have. Essentially, the paycheck is the barometer of success. I would submit, and I am certainly not the first nor only one to do so, that this measure of success is specious at best. 

Money cannot buy happiness. It is cliché, but nevertheless, it is also true. This is not to say that money is not important. Having a certain amount of money (i.e. not living in poverty) certainly makes life less miserable. However, no amount of money will give you the indescribable, tingling satisfaction of actually accomplishing something that you have worked very hard to achieve, and that you loved achieving. If you happened to make money doing that, then you were doubly blessed. However, if you didn't make a whole lot of money doing that, then you were still blessed because you still have the satisfaction of knowing that you accomplished a dream or life goal. Alternatively, If you did something you did not enjoy for a long period of time, simply because it afforded you some good pay, you have failed at some fundamental life purpose, and you will feel that in the end.

I have found that many, many people will delay or forfeit their true dreams and aspirations for the sake of earning a 'good living'. Perhaps renaissance men understand better than anyone how impossible an existence this is. Living in this way will take years from your life in the form of stress and general unhappiness or, at the very least, malaise. As a renaissance dad, you must encourage and instill the value of chasing and accomplishing one's dreams into your children. If you can accomplish this, you will have succeeded in cultivating happy people, which is something of which this World can never have too much.  

Obviously, teaching your children the importance of how to responsibly handle what money they have is important. But, much more important is teaching them to be content with whatever monetary wealth they might have. It is an increasingly rare trait. In America, we are afforded the basic human right to pursue our own happiness. It is immortalized in our Constitution. Nevertheless, we are constantly pressured and funneled into roles that are chosen for us or into which we have fallen by accident, which do not provide us happiness, and which we accept because of the monetary comforts. We are also constantly bombarded with commercial messages that seek to convince us that we will not be happy unless we can buy the latest and greatest things. On a fundamental level, we all know this to be untrue, even if we are duped from time to time. Do not make the unforgivable mistake of funneling your children into medical school simply because you believe financial success will make them happy. If they truly love medicine, fine, but allow and encourage them to follow their own dreams, even if it means they will not be financially wealthy, and they will reward you (and the World) with their own passion, excellence, and happiness, which in-turn enriches us all.

As usual, I encourage your comments, additions, and/or arguments.    

How To Be A Renaissance Dad

OK, so your girlfriend/wife has been hitting the Ben & Jerry's pretty hard, is complaining that she 'thinks she's coming down with something' every few hours because she's nauseous, and she just polished off an entire jar of pickles in one sitting.

Time to go cigar shopping, boy, you're going to be a dad.

Don't panic! I know, it may have seemed like the end of the world for those few minutes after she confirmed it for you, but trust me, this will turn out much better than you had ever imagined. Resist the urge to change your name, move to Zihuatenejo, and become a lifelong deadbeat margarita poet.  Step up the plate, my man.  It's time to Man Up.  Believe me, you won't regret it.

I know, you had plans to travel the world.  You wanted to focus on exploring your late-night, rock-star lifestyle just a little while longer.  Plus, kids freak you out.  They scare the crap out of you.  You don't even know how to hold one, much less keep one fed, clothed, and off the Smack.

Relax.

Even though you don't realize it now, this is going to be your greatest adventure.

As a renaissance man, you are reticent to let go of your sense of freedom, which is directly tethered to your happiness. You want to feel like you could drop anything at any time to explore a new opportunity if it happened to arise. You have so many things going on at any given time that it's sometimes difficult to give all of your interests and passions the time they require for you to become proficient with them, and yes, kids are going to change that for you.  I'm not going to lie to you.  It's going to be difficult to take that trip to India in search of your Inner Guru. It's going to be hard for you to quit your job, drop everything, and try your hand at wilderness survival in the Yukon.  It will be pretty much impossible for you to continue to think that living out of your car 'really wouldn't be all that bad'.

Yes, you are going to have to take a step up that responsibility ladder. You are going to have to get a little serious. It is going to require quite a bit of work. You are going to lose some of your uninhibited freedom. But in the end, you will learn more about yourself, Humanity, and the World from your own living room than you ever dreamed possible. You will likely have more 'Aha!' moments in the first year of fatherhood than you have experienced in your entire life up to now. You are embarking on Humanity's greatest and most ancient endeavor, and you never even realized what that was prior to now. This is it. This is actually what you are here for. This is the answer to the question of the meaning of life, and you didn't even have to quit your job and catch a plane to Guatemala to find it.

Possibly the #1 defining trait of any renaissance man is his desire to learn new things.  The good news is that learning to be a good dad counts as learning a new thing! You don't need to feel like you are 'missing out' on some other opportunity to learn something important when you are a dad because learning to be a dad is actually a very important life skill that will enhance your character in a myriad ways. What's more, it is a skill that is ever-evolving.  It is difficult to master.  Some would say impossible to master. There are very few 'experts' in the parenting field.  Everyone starts as a novice and gets roughly the same amount of experience as they go. Best of all, although it is hard work at times, it is also very fun and stimulating, and it contains nearly endless rewards when done properly.

Kids are fantastic creatures.  They have an indefatigable sense of curiosity and wonderment.  They are sponges for new information.  They are quick learners.  They are smart.  They are spontaneous.  They are exciting.  Sound familiar?  All kids are, for all practical purposes, renaissance-people-in-training.  It is not until much later in life that they decide or are pushed to decide to specialize.  They are willing to learn about anything and everything, and they have a genuine and inherent hunger for knowledge. The absolutely fantastic part about that hunger is that you get to give them a lot of that knowledge. You get to teach them about all of the great and interesting things you know, and in return, you gain the satisfaction and pride of knowing that they have become knowledgeable people, at least partially because of you.  And, also, they tend to think you are the smartest person in the World (which, let's face it, you probably are).

Kids are ever-changing.  There is never any need to worry about becoming bored with your kids.  They will be perpetually providing you with new challenges from the day they are born until they begin their own adult adventure, and very likely beyond.  They say incredibly profound and truthful things all the time. You will never feel like you've 'learned enough' about your kids.  In fact, you will likely be prodding them constantly to 'tell you more' about themselves.  They carry the distinction of being  the only people in the entire World with whom you will actually never tire, and that is something miraculous, renaissance man.

Kids will give you a new perspective on the World.  It's not just that you begin to see the World through their eyes (although that does happen), but also you begin to see the World through a parent's eyes.  In an extended and wonderful moment, you suddenly share something with almost every human adult animal on this planet.  Other than the commonalities of basic human needs (water, food, shelter, etc.), this one shared trait will teach you more about the way your fellow World citizens are feeling than anything else because everyone feels roughly the same about their children on some fundamental level, and that feeling is incredibly strong. In other words: everyone else loves their children too; even your 'enemies', lest you believe they are incapable of love.

Kids give you an opportunity to remember what you had forgotten to remember.  Your children will be learning lots of new things.  Some of them they will learn from you.  Some of them they will learn from others.  Some of those things will be things you had learned in the past, but forgotten.  In fact, you had even forgotten that you'd forgotten them.  All of a sudden, here is an opportunity to re-learn that which you had forgotten, and learn it again as if it were the first time.  What gift, Knowledge, when it can be given twice anew! What more could a renaissance man ask for?

Yes, being a renaissance dad is a struggle.  Perhaps you have had to delay some life plans.  Perhaps it has come at an inopportune time, and you wish you had planned for it better or been more prepared. Perhaps you may not have been thinking that the woman who is to be their mother was going to be 'the one'.  And, they will test your relationship.  They will test your patience.  They will make mistakes, and so will you.  They will break your heart.  They will get into trouble.  They will fail.

They will also love you, and you will love them.  It is unlike any other love in the World, and it is indescribable in words.  They will provide you with inspiration.  They will teach you things you had never even known were available to be learned. They will surprise you. They will make you laugh spontaneously and often. They will look up to you. They will fill you with pride. They will cause you to tear up at cute, sappy commercials and/or news reports about other kids. They will tug tears from your eyes when they call you 'Daddy'. They will make you unafraid of germs again. They will teach you wisdom.  They will teach you patience. They will teach you what it is to know that you would willingly die for something in order to protect it. They will give you a valid excuse to go fishing, camping, and to play soccer again.  They will cuddle with you, and you will not be uncomfortable about that at all. They will stop cuddling with you, and you will miss it. They will be the closest thing to a representation of yourself left on this Earth when you are gone; they will be your legacy.                      

They will deeply love you until the End, no matter what.  They are likely among the only people who will.

In short, renaissance dad, they are worth every minute.

     

The Dabbler

One topic that inevitably follows upon any discussion of the virtues of generalization over specialization, or vice versa, is the Generalist's 'dangerous' tendency to become a 'dabbler'.  In other words, an aspiring renaissance man invariably runs the risk of becoming a 'jack of all trades, but master of none'.  This latter labeling generally holds a negative connotation, in that this person would have a very thin layer of knowledge in any given field - probably just enough to get himself into trouble.  The Dabbler flits from one point of interest to another, learning only enough of the basic tenets of any given discipline to impress a potential mistress at a cocktail party for an evening.

This is a valid criticism, and one not to be taken lightly.  This is a definite pitfall to be avoided on your way to becoming a renaissance man.  Generalists, by their nature, are saddled with the curse of impatience.  They are perpetually seduced by 'the new'.  It should be noted that very few people can learn enough about something within a few weeks or months to be considered proficient in that subject in any way, and generally anything substantial worth learning will take the average man several years of study to become even passably 'good'.  Obviously, if one were setting out to 'master' some discipline, it could take him a lifetime.

However, it should be noted that this 'curse' of being perpetually drawn to new things is also the Generalist's greatest attribute.  It is the person who isn't perpetually drawn to something new who becomes comfortably smoke-stacked into specialization and (potentially) looks back upon the lost decades of his life with some regret in the end at the things not done.  Sure, the specialist has 'mastered' the art of selling widgets to the wary, but has he ever felt the tingling wash of indescribable emotion as he stood on stage and blew his gleaming horn into a writhing, cheering crowd as they chanted his name?  Of course not; he had to be at the office in the morning.  Has he ever thrown his meager savings into a barely sea-worthy sloop, embarking on a journey around the world and finding the woman of his dreams in a small port stop in Belize, all because he wanted to learn to be a proficient sailor?  Are you kidding?  There are quotas to be met in widgets.  You can't take that kind of time off and expect to stay at the 'top of your game' in widget sales, my friends.

Some people argue that generalism is dead.  It has been stated that in this day and age you MUST specialize to be proficient enough in any given field to 'make your mark'.  I would submit that that depends on what the goal is.  What is the mark?  If you would like to be a Nobel prize winning scientist - if that is truly your goal in life - then yes, it is probably a good idea to specialize.  It is no longer the early 1800s, when these fields were in their relative youth compared to where they are now.  The fields of science and mathematics are old and much explored, and you will need to devote your time heavily to specific aspects of those fields in order to be 'taken seriously' by the entrenched, specialized community of scientists and mathematicians.  Would you like to be a rich man?  Well then, unless you are very lucky, you will probably need to specialize in business and learn to wring every penny out of every widget.  Expect to spend 80 hours a week or so doing something like that.

However, if your goal is to live a fulfilled life, if your goal is to be happy, if your goal is to look back and say, "I did that," with satisfaction when you are 70, then the renaissance man lifestyle is for you.  Since when did the renaissance man need to be famous for something?  Since when did he need to discover some breakthrough in science?  Sure there are famous renaissance men out there, but not every renaissance man needs to be Leonardo da Vinci.  You don't need to be Miles Davis to blow a good horn.  You don't need to be an America's Cup winner to be a good sailor.  These are modern contrivances that seek to deter a man from generalization and accept his presumed fate that if he will succeed, he will succumb to specialization.  Cast off the specialist mantra, renaissance man!  Learn to sail if you wish!  Learn to blow your horn!

My point is, yes, you need to be wary of spending too much time doing too little of anything in particular.  That is not renaissance man living; that is just laziness.  You do need to earn proficiency in many of the fields that you explore.  You must be 'good' at things.  It is not enough to dabble with this or that.  You can't look back upon your life at 70 and say, "Well, I tried some things."  If you want to play an instrument, learn the instrument.  If you want to learn to sail, learn to sail.  But here's the thing: if you decide that music just isn't your thing and you'd rather learn to paint... do it!  Don't stick with something you don't like just because you don't want to be labeled a dabbler.  Worse yet, don't be frightened off of the generalist path before even venturing down it for fear of lacking 'the proper amount' of devotion.  When you find something you like, stick with it and become proficient.  When, four or five years down the road you'd like to learn something else, learn something else!  Do that for a lifetime and you will have been proficient at nearly a dozen excellent things.

Remember, renaissance man, you don't need to change the world, changing your world is enough.        

How To Become A Renaissance Man

It is Memorial Day today, which for those of you who don't know, is the day that Americans memorialize members of the United States Armed Services who have given the ultimate gift to their country: their lives.  This 'holiday' was originally instituted as a kind of reparation to begin the healing after our own Civil War, but has grown to encompass all of our storied military conflicts.  Today I am not only reminded of the undeniably admirable qualities of those men and women, but also once again of my own personal inadequacies.  I am, and will likely always be, somewhat sheepishly humbled when pondering the sacrifices of these commendable human beings.

This has also brought me to thinking of the preponderance of military men who are also renaissance men.  I once held the somewhat uninformed and perhaps prevailing notion that military jocks are mostly brawn but lacking in brains.  Obviously, this is a generalization which although possibly spreads its roots in truth, is an incorrect one perhaps half of the time, which is no good or useful generalization at all.  Many of the military men I've met in my life are thoughtful, sophisticated, worldly, and wise, not to mention pure bad-asses.  When you think about it, the military services are a breeding ground for renaissance men.  Not only do they train a man in the art of warfare, all the while keeping him in peak physical condition, but also they force a man to experience the world in his travels, often picking up multiple languages and sophistications along the way.  They also educate a man thoroughly in other disciplines, either while at the Academy, or later through the G.I. bill.  In fact, one almost couldn't help becoming a renaissance man as a modern-day soldier, unless of course one really was all brawn and no brains.

Which brings me to today's post, the purpose of which is to generally outline the ways in which a man can attain 'renaissance man' status.  This will be mostly in the form of a list which I will no doubt expand upon in later posts, but for now, and with limited long-winded explanation, here it is:

The Renaissance Man's Guide to Becoming a Renaissance Man:

1. Don't Be An Egotistical Douche-Bag.  Number one for a reason.  This is perhaps the most important rule.  No one likes a braggart, no matter what your accomplishments.  Learn as much as you can, but don't be the asshole who wants to talk about all the great things you can do all the time.  Use your knowledge and skills appropriately and at the appropriate time, with as little personal fanfare as possible, and accept compliments gracefully.
2. Never Stop Learning.  Number two for a reason.  Every day is an opportunity to learn something new or hone an existing skill set.  Don't let a day pass without learning something new.
3. Learn An Art.  Art comes in many forms.  Some renaissance men will try their hand at many art forms, and be successful with at least one or two of them.  Music, painting, chain-saw wood carving... whatever.  Just learn to express yourself through an artistic medium somehow.
4. Learn To Build Things.  A renaissance man is good with his hands, in more ways than one.  Learn to be 'handy'.  Learn how things are constructed and how things work mechanically.  If something breaks, try to fix it yourself.  Learn how to use a hammer, drill, and screwdriver.  Build something for the hell of it.  
5. Stay Active.  Renaissance men of old were not only great minds, but great bodies as well.  You do not have to be a professional athlete or a modern-day warrior to accomplish this rule, however.  Simply get out and keep your body in relatively good shape.  How you do that is completely up to you.  Hit the gym on a somewhat regular basis.  Take up hiking or climbing.  Join a local sports team.  The co-ed ones can be particularly rewarding.
6. Learn English.  English is without a doubt the most important language spoken on this planet at this moment in time (don't be the guy who argues that point with me - I will make fun of you).  For those of you who already speak English, learn to speak it well.  This is a skill that is quickly becoming extinct.  Learn to become a good orator.  Learn how to be persuasive and humorous with language.  While you are at it, learn to write in complete, grammatically correct sentences.  Also, learn to spell, or at least become proficient with the spell-check.  You might have the most interesting and profound things to say, but if they are misspelled or written like a grade-schooler, you will not be taken seriously.
7. Learn Another Language.  It does not matter which one.  Even Latin can be surprisingly useful, although it might be hard to find other people with which to have a conversation if you do choose Latin.  After you've learned another language, learn another one.
8. Learn To Be A Better Lover.  You think this is unimportant and does not belong in this list?  You have a lot to learn, young man.  Learning to be a better lover is a lifelong journey that contains a myriad rewards.  Be a man.  A complete one.  
9. Read.  And not just this blog (or any other blog for that matter).   Read classic literature.  Read the classic philosophers.  But, don't just read.  Think about what you are reading and analyze thoroughly.  These are classics for a reason.
10. Learn About Math And/Or The Sciences.  You do not need to be a brilliant mathematician or scientist to be a renaissance man, but it sure would help.  Learn how to figure out how tall that tree is over there without taking a tape measure to the top of it.  Learn who Pythagoras is and why he's important.  It's a good place to start.  At the very least, learn how to subtract, add, multiply, and divide without a calculator, and what element Fe represents on the periodic table, for Pete's sake.
11. Learn About The World.  Not just geography.  Learn about the rest of the people in the world.  Learn about the religions and cultural practices in countries other than your own.  While you're at it, learn about your own country and the religions and cultural practices in it.  Learn to be respectful of and even admire the differences between yourself and the rest of the world.
12. Learn History.  Don't just learn about history.  Learn from history.  Take care not to do the stupid things other people have done in the past.  There are plenty of examples.
13. Learn About Politics.  Learn about the different political systems.  And not just the demagogic misrepresentations that your own political leaders express in reference to their own system and the others.  Actually read some information written by the founders of other systems as well as your own, and learn about the advantages and/or pitfalls of each.  If you think you live within the greatest political system ever created, and that there will never be a better one, you are very likely not thinking broadly enough.
14. Learn To Be A Gentleman.  Be a confident man.  Don't act like a woman.  But, obtain a gentleness about your expression of manliness.  You don't always have to be the bad-ass.  Aggression is inappropriate in almost all endeavors, except of course boxing, warfare, and driving in traffic.
15. Learn To Appreciate Fine Things.  These are humankind's greatest accomplishments.  Someone strove to achieve greatness in some form or another, and in some cases succeeded.  Fine art, fine food, great literature, superb athleticism, a brilliant equation.  These are the examples toward which the renaissance man endeavors.  How will you know how to be great without knowing and appreciating what greatness is?  Learn and appreciate all things excellent, and strive to achieve excellence yourself.

This is by no means an all-inclusive or mutually exclusive list.  Each item is worthy of exploration and expansion.  The road to becoming a renaissance man is never-ending with many detours and forks along the way, and even some potholes and.... OK enough with the road metaphor, but you get the point.

As usual, I welcome the two or three people out there who might actually read this blog to leave your comments, questions, and/or diatribes.

Why The Blog?

An existential question, to be sure.  More specifically, why start a blog dedicated to the renaissance man in particular?  There are a couple of reasons for this, apart from a certain amount of egoism, narcissism, and solipsism on my own part (the true source of all blogs, without a doubt).

For one, I find renaissance men to be interesting people.  As I stated in the original post, they are generally the most interesting, eclectic people I've ever met.  They are typically the kind of men to go to for advice with every-day life issues, and when they attain a certain amount of age, are usually considered 'wise' or 'sage'.  Historically, some of the greatest, most interesting men who ever lived were notable renaissance men: Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Pascal, to name a few.  Also, renaissance men tend to get laid.  A lot.  And everyone knows that sex makes for good blogging.  But, probably the foremost reason for starting a blog dedicated to the renaissance man ideal is my firm belief that our modern tendency to specialize is making it harder and harder for this 'theory of being' to thrive, or even survive, which will eventually lead to the destruction of civilization in a fiery firepit of hell.

Or, it will be very boring.

One of the two.

Anyway, the conscious idea of the 'renaissance man' originated during the renaissance period (big surprise), although the term was first used much later (early 20th century).  I'll spare you the boring history lesson about who coined it first, etc, but the idea, during that period of time, was that a man should be 'a complete man', which generally necessitated that a man attempt to excel at as many fields as he possibly could in a lifetime.  In particular, emphasis was placed on sport and/or warfare, the sciences, literature, the arts, linguistics, theology, and philosophy, not necessarily in any particular order.  The idea probably grew from the Knighthood ideal, and the view that an 'educated' knight was a gentleman, warrior, and a scholar.  Prior to the Renaissance period, other great thinkers (notably the early Greek philosophers), purported that an ideal man should be proficient in many things, and those men were deemed 'polymaths'.

Regardless of where or why it began, it was and is still, without a doubt, the greatest of idealistic notions relating to the betterment of the male human animal.  To be 'all encompassing'.  To be 'well rounded'.  The incessant and insatiable quest for knowledge and skill.  The proverbial and symbolic 'Search for the Holy Grail'.  The Quest which is, of course, inherently doomed to failure, since no man can ever attain perfection in all things.  To some degree the renaissance man accepts the fact that he will never reach the 'ultimate goal'.  He accepts, in fact, that there might never have been a true goal in the first place.  The Holy Grail will never be found, even if it does exist.  But, the journey to find it elevates the man more than the object itself, which, as any renaissance man will tell you, was the whole point of the journey in the first place.

Nothing to me is sadder than the man who paid good money for his MBA, stuck in a cubicle or corner office for 40 years, pushing some papers around for a company that produces nothing in particular, living vicariously through his television set at home, just so he can retire comfortably in a motorhome bound for Arizona when he's at death's door.  We live in a day and age where schools are no longer teaching music and/or the arts.  High school students are pressed to take early college credit courses on their way to becoming 'productive' members of society.  Gone are the wood shop, the drama club, and the band room.  Talented athletes are pressed more and more to focus on one sport alone, and with all-consuming intensity, to the derailment of their overall physical and mental education.  Higher learning institutions are pressing students to declare majors early, and putting most of the available educational dollars into 'valuable' degree programs, such as Business, Law, and Medicine, at the expense of disciplines such as Philosophy, Art, and History.  Worse yet, we have been duped into believing that the surest path to 'success' is a 'marketable' college degree.  All around us we are deafened by the cacophony of the snare drums and cymbals of the 'specialists' to the drowning out of the triangles, wood blocks, and cowbells of the 'generalists'.

It is time to make a revolution of sorts.  It is time to bring back the ideal of generalization.  To appreciate what we already know intuitively: that a man can be better at one thing when he is knowledgeable about many.  It is  the mixing of disciplines that spurs innovation.  It is the drawing from a multitude of experiences that makes a man wise, not the studying of one thing for a lifetime.  It is my intent to provide a forum here that will hopefully lead to a sanctuary and outlet for renaissance men throughout the blogoshpere (along with the women who love them, want to love them, or want desperately to be loved by them), and to help prime and cultivate the next generation of renaissance men.  My hope is that you, web community of self-proclaimed renaissance men, latent renaissance men, repressed renaissance men, and renaissance men in training, will help me in this endeavor.  I welcome your comments, stories, diatribes, and/or suggestions.

Defining The Renaissance Man

Before I delve into the blogosphere on a mission dedicated to the ideal of the renaissance man, I suppose it would be apropos to begin by defining exactly what a renaissance man is.  Easy, you say?  Perhaps.  But, since my simple Google search uncovered many varied and contradictory ideas of what a renaissance man could and/or should be, I will start this journey with my own definition, which for the purposes of this blog is really the only one that matters.

So, probably, since this is in fact a world wide web medium, the best place to start would be the web's go-to source for all information that is worth knowing: Wikipedia. Unfortunately, the Wikipedia definition is somewhat disappointing, since it wants you to re-direct to the polymath page. And, as you no doubt have now read after following that nicely-placed link right there, a polymath, defined by the Wik, is 'a person whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas'.

OK, well, I guess my definition of a renaissance man would not significantly stray from that, except that of course a true renaissance man would need to wear a frilly collar pretty much at all times, along with a feathered cap, just for effect.

But truly, there is a connotation underlying the ideal of the renaissance man that emphasizes an overall 'well-roundedness'.  Expertise in a significant number of subject areas, sure, but the subject areas must also be significantly different, or even at odds, with one another.  An artist who also happens to be a canny inventor, for instance.  Or, a man gifted in politics who is also a formidable scientist.

I recently read an online magazine's take on some 'modern' renaissance men, and was struck by the fact that there were many 'renaissance men' listed who were no doubt brilliant people, but were actually just brilliant scientists who happened to be brilliant at a couple of different fields of science.  Worthy of respect, certainly, but not exactly what I would call renaissance men.

Also, any conversation related to renaissance men inevitably produces the 'genius' paradigm.  In other words, in order to be a true renaissance man, one must be gifted to the point of genius in several unrelated fields.  Not only do I disagree with this, but I actually think it goes against the model of what a true renaissance man is.  You see, renaissance men are inevitably drawn, for better or worse, to several fields out of a drive to learn something new, not to 'master' any one thing in particular.  This drive, in fact, makes it difficult or even impossible to be 'the leading expert' in any particular field of study.  Certainly there were, historically, geniuses who were also renaissance men.  Leonardo da Vinci probably being foremost among them.  But, far more common, and possibly more admirable in my view, is the man who learns enough about a subject to be relatively proficient, and who knows he's no expert in that subject, but moves on to something else when that no longer pulls his chain.  These 'everyday' renaissance men have always been the most interesting people to me.  These are the men whose storied lives read like the pages of a novel, or even several novels with different leads.

In short: The most interesting men in the World.