The Polymathic Lifestyle

The Polymathic Institute is intended to identify, enlist, organize and enable a specific type of person - the high functioning Polymath. These people are disinclined to specialize. They are lifelong, eclectic, usually autonomous, learners who often do not function well in traditional educational environments. Because of this, they often have sufficient expertise, but lack sufficient credentials to realize their full potential. We can see this in statistical analyses and we explore it in greater detail in the article, 'The Inappropriately Excluded.'  

However, where Polymaths had problems in the Industrial Age, given the proper tools, they will shine in the Information Age. If this describes you, your time has come. However, the polymathic institutions that you will need in order to shine currently don't exist. Therefore, if you want to enjoy a polymathic lifestyle, you will need to actively participate in their creation.

We estimate that Polymaths have a mean IQ of +3.5σ with a standard deviation of about 7.5 D15 IQ points. That means that the 95% band will be 138-168 D15IQ. This reflects no upper end exclusion as does virtually every other profession in the cognitive elites.

Not only will this be the Polymath's IQ range professionally, it will define the Polymath's social universe, as well. The size of this IQ range, globally, is about 3.5 million. However, some are children, some are not engaged in Western society and the majority, while extremely intelligent, are not polymathic.

Ultimately there may be as many as ¼ million members of The Polymathic Institute. However, our three year goal is a much more modest 20,000. That will be quite sufficient for members to build a Dunbar scale social universe, build a collaborative career, find a mate, etc.

We have found that when Polymaths congregate, what ensues are hours long discussions on wide ranging topics. These discussions are natural and spontaneous, and will likely be one of the dominant features of the community of Polymaths. as well, Polymaths have eclectic tastes in the arts, typically both participating and appreciating many genre', styles and forms.  

Over the course of a career the Polymath explores and often dedicates oneself to a pursuit that bears little or no similarity to previous productive endeavors. In this way the breadth and depth of one's knowledge increases naturally. One can say that the life experience of a Polymath is a matter of a never ending becoming. 

And, of course, one must seek out the companionship of other Polymaths. Regular people will not relate to the Polymat. Regular people will be of little value to us either socially or professionally. As is true of traditional Academia, being a Polymath entails a degree of insularity, a kind of collegial 'other worldliness'. however, that insularity is from the general population, not one another.

So, the lifestyle of the typical Polymath is affluent, fluid, intellectually intense and more than a little isolated from the popular culture. However, strong, global intellectual, professional and social ties will exist within its community and the social isolation that has so typified Polymaths in the past will likely decrease of the coming decades. It will transpire simply through the process of Polymaths finding their own. With time, we expect that Polymath communities will emerge.