5 ms·

I think the term "hacker" is synonymous with polymath in many significant ways. I personally find myself inexplicably divided between many fields, all of which

I think the term "hacker" is synonymous with polymath in many significant ways. I personally find myself inexplicably divided between many fields, all of which I am passionate about. My hacker philosophy has lead me to be well-read in political science, literature, philosophy, and of course computing and maths! As hackers we are driven by our insatiable curiosity. For me at least this curiosity is not often applied in the same direction.

thaumaturgy 17y ago
The article did a rather nice job of talking about this, and the difference between mere interest in multiple subjects -- "flitting" from subject to subject promiscuously -- and actually doing real work in multiple subjects. How many "hackers" here are accomplished authors -- not technical books, but social subjects or good fiction -- and accomplished programmers, and have accomplished something notable in another unrelated field?
- jonsen 17y ago
  Polyhackers? http://mattlydonwrites.wordpress.com/2009/01/14/the-price-we-sometimes-pay-for-experience/ http://mattlydonwrites.wordpress.com/2009/01/14/the-price-we...
fnid 17y ago
I think you underestimate the significance of the term polymath. Polymaths don't just read about a lot of topics, they produce in a lot of topics. Brilliant minds like Da Vinci who painted, sculpted, wrote, experimented, philosophized. Being a polymath doesn't mean you find lots of topics interesting, it means you significantly influence multiple very broad and diverse fields of knowledge. You write papers on nanotechnology, cured cancer, wrote, starred in and directed a blockbuster movie. You also overvalue the term hacker. I can't tell you how many people I meet who think they are a hacker because they can get a Drupal site up and running or write a blog. I had a boss one time who was so happy that he had finally gotten back into coding. I said, "What'd you do?" He said, "I changed the HTML on the login form!" Ugh. So, "hacker" is not synonymous with polymath. Hacking is just one small field of knowledge that may be a part of a polymath's repertoire.
- jonsen 17y ago
  My dictionary says polymath: a person of wide-ranging knowledge or learning. Wikipedia says In less formal terms, a polymath (or polymathic person) may simply refer to someone who is very knowledgeable.
  - tudorachim 17y ago
    This is true; one of the points the article was making is that the current definition of polymath is much weaker than the one we had even a hundred years ago. The GP is probably referring to that one.
- amackera 17y ago
  I'm sorry if I seemed like I was implying that hackers are polymaths, because I don't think that's the case at all. I think that there are aspects of being a hacker, and being a polymath that are common. A hacker is not somebody who "codes" HTML, a hacker is somebody who is driven to understand some facet of their environment on a fundamental level. Hackers compulsively wrap their heads round difficult concepts ("grokking", so to speak). I feel like that compulsion to dive head-first into something is a feeling that hackers and polymaths must share. I also didn't mean to imply that I was a polymath. I don't even really consider myself a "monomath". I am still very much a student.

thaumaturgy 17y ago

The article did a rather nice job of talking about this, and the difference between mere interest in multiple subjects -- "flitting" from subject to subject promiscuously -- and actually doing real work in multiple subjects. How many "hackers" here are accomplished authors -- not technical books, but social subjects or good fiction -- and accomplished programmers, and have accomplished something notable in another unrelated field?

jonsen 17y ago
Polyhackers? http://mattlydonwrites.wordpress.com/2009/01/14/the-price-we-sometimes-pay-for-experience/ http://mattlydonwrites.wordpress.com/2009/01/14/the-price-we...

fnid 17y ago

I think you underestimate the significance of the term polymath. Polymaths don't just read about a lot of topics, they produce in a lot of topics. Brilliant minds like Da Vinci who painted, sculpted, wrote, experimented, philosophized. Being a polymath doesn't mean you find lots of topics interesting, it means you significantly influence multiple very broad and diverse fields of knowledge. You write papers on nanotechnology, cured cancer, wrote, starred in and directed a blockbuster movie. You also overvalue the term hacker. I can't tell you how many people I meet who think they are a hacker because they can get a Drupal site up and running or write a blog. I had a boss one time who was so happy that he had finally gotten back into coding. I said, "What'd you do?" He said, "I changed the HTML on the login form!" Ugh. So, "hacker" is not synonymous with polymath. Hacking is just one small field of knowledge that may be a part of a polymath's repertoire.

jonsen 17y ago
My dictionary says polymath: a person of wide-ranging knowledge or learning. Wikipedia says In less formal terms, a polymath (or polymathic person) may simply refer to someone who is very knowledgeable.
- tudorachim 17y ago
  This is true; one of the points the article was making is that the current definition of polymath is much weaker than the one we had even a hundred years ago. The GP is probably referring to that one.
amackera 17y ago
I'm sorry if I seemed like I was implying that hackers are polymaths, because I don't think that's the case at all. I think that there are aspects of being a hacker, and being a polymath that are common. A hacker is not somebody who "codes" HTML, a hacker is somebody who is driven to understand some facet of their environment on a fundamental level. Hackers compulsively wrap their heads round difficult concepts ("grokking", so to speak). I feel like that compulsion to dive head-first into something is a feeling that hackers and polymaths must share. I also didn't mean to imply that I was a polymath. I don't even really consider myself a "monomath". I am still very much a student.