Why Technology Needs Polymaths
Published on · Joaquín Dati
Leonardo da Vinci painted, designed machines, studied anatomy and planned cities. We call him a polymath: someone who masters several disciplines and, above all, knows how to connect them. During the twentieth century the idea lost prestige to specialization. But in today’s technology it’s making a strong comeback.
Why now
Tools have become far more accessible. What used to require years of specific training, like producing sound, 3D modeling or automating processes, can now be learned and applied much faster, with help from AI. That doesn’t eliminate the need for specialists, but it opens the door to people who combine several areas.
The value is in the connections
Real problems don’t respect department boundaries. A good website needs design, code, content, performance, accessibility and business all at once. Someone who understands several of those pieces sees solutions an isolated specialist doesn’t, and communicates better with every team because they speak a bit of everyone’s language.
A close example
This portfolio is, in part, an experiment in exactly that. Building it meant combining:
- Visual and experience design.
- Front-end and WordPress development.
- 3D modeling and optimization.
- Sound generated with code.
- Video games, animation and AI.
None of those pieces creates the experience on its own: the way they connect does.
It isn’t knowing everything
Being a polymath doesn’t mean knowing everything about everything, which is impossible, but being curious, learning fast and daring to cross boundaries. It’s having one or two strong areas and solid knowledge of the ones around them.
An invitation
If you’re interested in many things at once and someone once told you to pick just one, maybe it isn’t a flaw. In an increasingly connected world, knowing how to bridge disciplines might be your greatest advantage.
Source of inspiration: Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World, de David Epstein (2019) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Range:_Why_Generalists_Triumph_in_a_Specialized_World