MULTIPOTENTIALITES

October 28, 2017Chinonso Solomon

At some point in my life I felt confused and, out of place whenever I am confronted with what I really what to do. I knew I could sing, play football, write and, I also tend to come up with new ideas in IT (mobile games and, apps). Obviously this comes with so many challenges, your life feels like a labyrinth, there is chaos but, there is little or no help because people doesn’t really understand this. You may find yourself taking a course on how to write fiction this year and, later a programming course… being a member of a choir and, then playing football for a local football club. This scenario makes one perplexed, I mean, I was.



If this feels like you stay with me…

Over the years I had fallen in love TEDTalks…who wouldn’t? I could access the best minds for free, Chimamanda Adichie’s ‘Danger of a single story,’ Philip Zimbardo’s ‘Time Perspective’ etc. I even chose to be a Psychologist after listening to a TEDTalk in 2013 about depression on Joyce’s program on CoolFm ( a radio station in Lagos, Nigeria). TEDTalk came through again when I watched Emilie Wapnick’s ‘Why some of us don’t have one true calling…’

‘So, I was not alone here… Wow! I can make the best of this ‘gift…Ah, they’ve got a name for my confusion…’ my mind went on and, on. Emilie’s talk was an epiphany to me. I am a MULTIPOTENTIALITE! I have always been!

Multipotentialite
“An educational and psychological term referring to a pattern found among intellectually gifted individuals. [Multipotentialites] generally have diverse interests across numerous domains and may be capable of success in many endeavors or professions, they are confronted with unique decisions as a result of these choices.”
Wiki links

You’ll love Emilie Wapnicks explanation.

A multipotentialite is someone with many interests and creative pursuits.
Multipotentialites have no “ one true calling ” the way specialists do. Being a multipotentialite is our destiny. We have many paths and we pursue all of them, either sequentially or simultaneously (or both).

Multipotentialites thrive on learning, exploring, and mastering new skills. We are excellent at bringing disparate ideas together in creative ways. This makes us incredible innovators and problem solvers.
When it comes to new interests that emerge, our insatiable curiosity leads us to absorb everything we can get our hands on. As a result, we pick up new skills fast and tend to be a wealth of information.

Child development, human development and, the multipotentialite.

Children from about 4-14years are encouraged to be multipotentialites. For instance, parents are proud if their kid can sing and, dance, good in sports and, maths, spelling and, pronunciation but, as they grow older the parents and, society subconsciously begin to expect specialisation from their kids. If not they are perceived as unserious, and unfocused.

So, even multipotentialites begin to specialise, the result however, is that they get bored and, unhappy with sticking to one thing alone, or for a long time.

~There’s an obscurity between being a multipotentialite and, just being unserious and, unfocused.~

Historically, the renaissance time didn’t frown at being a multipotentialite.
‘The common term Renaissance man is used to describe a person who is well educated or who excels in a wide variety of subjects or fields. The idea developed in Renaissance Italy from the notion expressed by one of its most accomplished representatives, Leon Battista Alberti (1404–1472): that “a man can do all things if he will.” It embodied the basic tenets of Renaissance humanism , which considered humans empowered, limitless in their capacities for development, and led to the notion that people should embrace all knowledge and develop their capacities as fully as possible. Thus the gifted people of the Renaissance sought to develop skills in all areas of knowledge, in physical development, in social accomplishments, and in the arts.’
Wiki link

Contemporarily, there is no better time and, age that demands the embracement and utilisation of multipotentialites. Changing reality demands that you take up more than one or, two roles to survive in leading companies and, industries.
However, the roles of specialists can not be undermined as they are vital to create good balance. A specialist brings experience and, expertise, the multipotentialite brings creativity gotten from different fields and, applies to present challenges.

~Companies, industries… The world needs a good mix of specialists and, multipotentialites to reach full potential~

As individuals, multipotentialites need to embrace their ‘power’ now like never before. You can be a Psychologist a writer and, saxophonist like my friend Miracle Oluwasegun. An artist and, a medical doctor, a professional social media handler, a movie director, actor and, a footballer.

In the modern world, where a very common job might require someone to be a social-media expert, public speaker, writer and data analyst, the polymath wins and the deep subject-matter expert is relegated to a back corner to be used as a resource for others. As an investor, if I were going to pick the perfect team, it would be a group of rock-star polymaths with a single subject matter expert as a resource.

— Jake Chapman, In Specialization, Polymaths And The Pareto Principle In A Convergence Economy

Some popular multipotentialites.

Females:

Emilie Wapnick. She doing a great job on puttylike.com. You can also search for her TEDTalk.

Maya Angelu. An American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist.

Gloria Steinem

Jackie O

Laura Ingalls Wilder

Hedy Lamarr

Eleanor Roosevelt. Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was an American politician, diplomat and activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States

Beatrice Webb

Beatrix Potter

Julia Child

Geena Davis

Cleopatra. Ruled ancient Egypt

Elizabeth I

Dorothy Dunnett

Hildegard of Bingen

Hypatia

Trotula of Salerno

Maria Gaetana Agnesi

Anna Maria van Schurman

Queen Christina of Sweden

Queen Margrethe of Denmark

Olympe de Gouges

puttylike.com

Males:

Leonardo Da Vinci. An Italian Renaissance polymath whose areas of interest included invention, painting, sculpting , architecture, science, music, mathematics, engineering , literature , anatomy , geology , astronomy , botany , writing , history , and cartography .

Thomas Jefferson

Benjamin Franklin

Sir Isaac Newton. English mathematician, astronomer, theologian and physicist

René Descartes. A French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist

Archimedes

Aristotle

I am working on getting data on Popular African multipotentialites, if you have suggestions send them here

Multipotentialites, embrace your ‘power, ‘ the world is counting on you, the economy is begging, your pocket (in some cases) is hoping you do but, most importantly your mind can’t wait.

Are you a multipotentialite?

I will like to read from you.


https://solomonsarea./2017/10/28/multipotentialites/


Cc: Lalasticlala

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A multipotentialite will become a polymath if he doesn't lose interest in learning what he wills. Wow...how beautiful!

We also have autodidactic polymaths

Thanks for the enlightening.

onojaford:
A multipotentialite will become a polymath if he doesn't lose interest in learning what he wills. Wow...how beautiful!

We also have autodidactic polymaths

Thanks for the enlightening.

A pleasure.

what an educative piece. really got thinking if I was one?
cc Lalasticlala R231 freiburg Ishilove Mynd44
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