"Polymath" emerged during the Renaissance. Because that's when there was an inflection point in specialization. There are many polymaths other than DaVinci.

"Polymath" emerged during the Renaissance. Because that's when there was an inflection point in specialization. There are many polymaths other than DaVinci. Like Feynman, he refused to specialize so much as everyone else of his time. And, like Feynman, he was kind of a jerk, so he got his way. But back to the point: we don't need to be non-linear so much as not overspecialized. What we usually see as "genius" is often expertise in multiple fields and the cross-pollination of ideas from that (Da Vinci and Feynman, for sure!). So I agree with you on that point.