Project Polymath: Catalyzing Interdisciplinary Education for a New Renaissance How the Conservative Worldview Quashes Critical Thinking -- and What That Means For Our Kids' Future | Education Photo Credit: ShutterStock.com May 18, 2012 | Like this article? Join our email list: Stay up to date with the latest headlines via email. The Conservative War On Education continues apace, with charters blooming everywhere, high-stakes testing cementing its grip on classrooms, and legislators and pundits wondering what we need those stupid liberal arts colleges for anyway. Amid the din, there's a worrisome trend: liberals keep affirming right-wing talking points, usually without realizing that they're even right wing. The hell it is. Our answers to that question could not be more diametrically opposed. A Question of Human Nature Our beliefs about the purpose of education are rooted in even deeper beliefs about the basic nature of humanity. All conservative politics springs from one central premise: they believe that human beings are essentially fallen and deeply flawed.
Polymath: ‘A Renaissance Man’ Know something about everything and everything about something T H Huxley The only thing that I know is that I know nothing Socrates Definition of polymath: [n] a person of great and varied learning There is an increasing demand for people who can work across boundaries and in many different fields: people who can understand the linkages and connections between the various disciplines of modern life. This article and the essays that follow were compiled principally as an aide-memoir to me – I make no apologies for repetition of the work of others who have enhanced my understanding – I hope their wisdom may prove as useful to others as it did for me. This web section on polymath explores the connotation ‘A Renaissance Man’ and the relevance of wisdom to current life. It was thought a Renaissance man should - • Be able to defend himself with a variety of weapons, especially the sword Wisdom Wisdom is the ability to make sound choices, good decisions--the best decision. What is a polymath? top
Can Children Know, At Age 2, They Were Born The 'Wrong Sex'? : 13.7: Cosmos And Culture iStockphoto Kathryn's Dad thought she was going through a tomboy phase. Kathryn's Mom suspected it might be something more. From the age of two onwards, Kathryn herself was utterly certain: "I am a boy," the child insisted. Kathryn's story was told on the front page of The Washington Post last Sunday, and I found it a gripping tale. It explores Kathryn's sense, expressed consistently through her toddler years, that she is a boy, and her parents' "upheaval" in trying to do the right thing by their child. Tyler (the pseudonym chosen by the Post for Kathryn's new name) now dresses as a boy and attends preschool as a boy. In a course I teach at William and Mary, Evolutionary Perspectives on Gender, my students and I grapple with questions of this nature. Fausto-Sterling takes a dynamic systems approach to gender identity, one where a number of influences work together as a system to affect a child's experience of gender. Furthermore, gender identity may not be fixed throughout life.
In Defense of Polymaths - Kyle Wiens by Kyle Wiens | 8:54 AM May 18, 2012 Polymath is one of those words more likely to show up on the SAT than in everyday conversation. But the reason we don’t use the word much these days has less to do with vocabulary than it has to do with practicality: there aren’t a lot of polymaths around anymore. In case you don’t have your pocket dictionary handy, a polymath is a person with a wide range of knowledge or learning. Think people like Leonardo da Vinci (artist and helicopter designer), Benjamin Franklin (founding father, inventor, and all-around lady-killer), Paul Robeson (scholar, athlete, actor, and civil rights activist), and even Steve Jobs (engineer, businessman extraordinaire, and marketing mastermind). Still, while we admire the select “geniuses” that can do it all, we tend to disparage the regular folk who attempt to spread their knowledge around a little. But why? “It’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” Angelou said to the Smithsonian. And that’s fine.
The Death of Postmodernism And Beyond Articles Alan Kirby says postmodernism is dead and buried. In its place comes a new paradigm of authority and knowledge formed under the pressure of new technologies and contemporary social forces. I have in front of me a module description downloaded from a British university English department’s website. Postmodern philosophy emphasises the elusiveness of meaning and knowledge. Most of the undergraduates who will take ‘Postmodern Fictions’ this year will have been born in 1985 or after, and all but one of the module’s primary texts were written before their lifetime. The reason why the primary reading on British postmodernism fictions modules is so old, in relative terms, is that it has not been rejuvenated. What’s Post Postmodernism? I believe there is more to this shift than a simple change in cultural fashion. Let me explain. By definition, pseudo-modern cultural products cannot and do not exist unless the individual intervenes physically in them. Clicking In The Changes
Polymath Leonardo da Vinci is regarded as a "Renaissance man" and is one of the most recognizable polymaths. A polymath (Greek: πολυμαθής, polymathēs, "having learned much")[1] is a person whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas; such a person is known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems. The term was first used in the seventeenth century but the related term, polyhistor, is an ancient term with similar meaning. The term applies to the gifted people of the Renaissance who sought to develop their abilities in all areas of knowledge as well as in physical development, social accomplishments, and the arts, in contrast to the vast majority of people of that age who were not well educated. Renaissance ideal[edit] Robert A. This Renaissance ideal differed slightly from the "polymath" in that it involved more than just intellectual advancement. Related terms[edit] Polymath and polyhistor compared[edit] Other uses of 'polymath'[edit] See also[edit]
the free encyclopedia Want to Be a Polymath Like da Vinci? Follow These Four Steps This is a guest post by Christopher Hutton of Liter8 Ideas. Polymath (noun) - A person of wide-ranging knowledge or learning. Polymaths aren’t born, they’re made. They are created by way of human patterns and practices that were copied from the years of Da Vinci and Michelangelo. And so, we have an opportunity to perform behaviors that will build us into potential Polymaths. This post will give you the four crucial steps you should follow when you’re trying to become a polymath. 1. A polymath is a person that knows many things. Determine what you want to be an expert in. It’s helpful if you set exact and specific goals for you to perform. A way of building a plan for personal growth is writing something like a bucket list. For example, I want to write a thorough journalistic treatise on the topic of psychology and economics. It’s also worth picking goals that span a number of realms. Have someone else offer suggestions. 2. 3. However, this practice cannot be simplistic repetition. 4.
The Polymath Newsletter, The Polymathic Lifestyle "Since everything is related, I can start anywhere. I choose to start in the Bahamas." Douglas Adams, 1952-2001 One of our founders, like most polymaths, has a large and eclectic personal library. I tend to socialize with polymaths. According to Hirsch and his Cultural Literacy, every American should 'get' my Nietzsche-Schrodinger reference. Polymathica is a social group for eclectic, lifelong learners, but in a way we are also a nascent cultural viewpoint. However, Polymathica isn't really about that. The short answer is, "I don't know. The dictionary defines a polymath as someone knowledgeable in many subjects. At the core of a polymathic personality is an unrestrained curiosity -- about nearly everything. When we meet polymaths, we hear the same statements over and over. The Internet has been improving matters, but old habits die hard. So being a polymath in today's society is not easy. The American Polymathic Institute was conceived the way it was, in part, to solve this Catch-22.