On Becoming A Renaissance Person
A reader asks:
The term ‘Renaissance Man’ suggests a wo/man of many accomplishments. S/he is a person who is not a specialist but a generalist, a person who knows a significant amount about many domains of knowledge rather than knowing more and more about less and less as does the specialist.
Some will whine that today, with all of our knowledge, it is impossible for anyone to become a Renaissance Person. I say non-sense! With the world’s accumulated knowledge at our finger-tips anyone who has practiced the art and science of navigating knowledge can quickly gain an educational acquaintance with any domain of knowledge in a matter of weeks rather than a matter of years as would be required in ancient times.
Is a modern day Renaissance man or woman impossible?
I do not think that is impossible. Today becoming a Bacon or a Thomas is, relatively, a piece of cake.
I reply:
Since I am myself a Renaissance man, I can say that a modern day Renaissance man is not impossible. :) But nor is it a piece of cake. It is a difficult journey and those that make the journey are like Bacon and Thomas exceedingly rare.
A Renaissance person is not merely someone with a command of information at his fingertips. With google and wikipedia, that is true with almost everyone. It is not someone who is merely very smart. Those who wrote torture manuals and planned the holocaust were erudite, but they are not exemplars of the humane tradition of the Renaissance. Nor is it someone who is able in different areas-- someone, for example, who can ride horseback, write poetry, raise children, and manage a corporation. A person can do of of that but lack ethics, empathy, and humanity. I think a lot of it has to do with disposition, humility, and balance-- looking for ways to wisely integrate knowledge in such a way so that it illuminates the human condition in wholesome and meaningful ways.
Another reader's response:
"Since I am myself a Renaissance man, ...................I think a lot of it has to do with ... humility--"
Nice one.
The term ‘Renaissance Man’ suggests a wo/man of many accomplishments. S/he is a person who is not a specialist but a generalist, a person who knows a significant amount about many domains of knowledge rather than knowing more and more about less and less as does the specialist.
Some will whine that today, with all of our knowledge, it is impossible for anyone to become a Renaissance Person. I say non-sense! With the world’s accumulated knowledge at our finger-tips anyone who has practiced the art and science of navigating knowledge can quickly gain an educational acquaintance with any domain of knowledge in a matter of weeks rather than a matter of years as would be required in ancient times.
Is a modern day Renaissance man or woman impossible?
I do not think that is impossible. Today becoming a Bacon or a Thomas is, relatively, a piece of cake.
I reply:
Since I am myself a Renaissance man, I can say that a modern day Renaissance man is not impossible. :) But nor is it a piece of cake. It is a difficult journey and those that make the journey are like Bacon and Thomas exceedingly rare.
A Renaissance person is not merely someone with a command of information at his fingertips. With google and wikipedia, that is true with almost everyone. It is not someone who is merely very smart. Those who wrote torture manuals and planned the holocaust were erudite, but they are not exemplars of the humane tradition of the Renaissance. Nor is it someone who is able in different areas-- someone, for example, who can ride horseback, write poetry, raise children, and manage a corporation. A person can do of of that but lack ethics, empathy, and humanity. I think a lot of it has to do with disposition, humility, and balance-- looking for ways to wisely integrate knowledge in such a way so that it illuminates the human condition in wholesome and meaningful ways.
Another reader's response:
"Since I am myself a Renaissance man, ...................I think a lot of it has to do with ... humility--"
Nice one.
Labels: education
posted by My Mall and News at
7:21 PM
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