Are you a Renaissance Man?

[Alobar]

If being a Renaissance man is simply just never losing the desire to learn new things or to not be scared to try something different. Then yeah sure. I think thats where most people "fail" at life. Everyone likes to find a nice spot to [censored] and then never move from it. People are scared of change and of new things and this hampers their personal growth.

However I never in a million years would actually use the phrase "renaissance man" when describing myself to people. I think that comes off as a bit attention whorish "look at me, i think im special". I dont mean that in an insulting way towards you Boro, just giving my take on it. A lot of it comes down to intent tho. I think there are two kinds of people when it comes to this stuff. People like Bruiser who its obvious do these things for their own personal desires, and people who do all these things so that they can impress other people with their knowledge and varied talents. I personally feel the former is impressive and noble, and the latter is shallow and meaningless. But maybe being proud of being diversified isnt a bad thing, and Im confusing it too much with vanity. I dunno

[guids]

[ QUOTE ]
If being a Renaissance man is simply just never losing the desire to learn new things or to not be scared to try something different. Then yeah sure. I think thats where most people "fail" at life. Everyone likes to find a nice spot to [censored] and then never move from it. People are scared of change and of new things and this hampers their personal growth.

However I never in a million years would actually use the phrase "renaissance man" when describing myself to people. I think that comes off as a bit attention whorish "look at me, i think im special". I dont mean that in an insulting way towards you Boro, just giving my take on it. A lot of it comes down to intent tho. I think there are two kinds of people when it comes to this stuff. People like Bruiser who its obvious do these things for their own personal desires, and people who do all these things so that they can impress other people with their knowledge and varied talents. I personally feel the former is impressive and noble, and the latter is shallow and meaningless. But maybe being proud of being diversified isnt a bad thing, and Im confusing it too much with vanity. I dunno

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As crazy and naive as I think theBruiser500 is, I admire him getting off his duff, and doing all the cool things that he does because he wants to.

[phish]

True Renaissance Men are able to DO a lot of things: good artist, architect, sculpture, music, philosophy, etc.

Of course, back then when our knowledge base was much smaller, it was possible to be great at a number of fields.

Today, that's practically impossible.

I've heard of Jeopardy winners being referred to as Renaissance Men. To me, that's laughable. Knowing a lot of trivia or even important info is not the same as being good at doing them. These guys are just trivia experts, not Renaissance men. It's like referring to your classmate who knows every stat about baseball as being a great baseball player.

[Borodog]

[ QUOTE ]
If being a Renaissance man is simply just never losing the desire to learn new things or to not be scared to try something different. Then yeah sure. I think thats where most people "fail" at life. Everyone likes to find a nice spot to [censored] and then never move from it. People are scared of change and of new things and this hampers their personal growth.

However I never in a million years would actually use the phrase "renaissance man" when describing myself to people. I think that comes off as a bit attention whorish "look at me, i think im special". I dont mean that in an insulting way towards you Boro, just giving my take on it. A lot of it comes down to intent tho. I think there are two kinds of people when it comes to this stuff. People like Bruiser who its obvious do these things for their own personal desires, and people who do all these things so that they can impress other people with their knowledge and varied talents. I personally feel the former is impressive and noble, and the latter is shallow and meaningless. But maybe being proud of being diversified isnt a bad thing, and Im confusing it too much with vanity. I dunno

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No offense taken. Personally I'm a little of both (I mean, look at the thread; duh). The stuff I do I do because I'm genuinely interested in it, but once you've invested a lot of time in something and you are proud of it, it's hard to be uber angelic and not want to say "Hey look at me" sometimes.

[private joker]

I've been called a renaissance man a lot, and I guess I take it as a compliment since most people intend it to mean you know a lot about a lot of things and can do a lot of things well. I wouldn't say I'm classically good at that many things, but it's true that I go out of my way to try and excel at whatever I'm interested in.

For example, I was one of those high school nerds who was in the honors classes, was 1st chair sax in band, ran varsity track (and NCAA track at Georgia), majored in philosophy, got published in a mathematical journal for finding a shortcut (for multiplication of radicals), then won some writing awards, got a master's in film production, became a journalist writing music and movie reviews, was a radio DJ and talk show host (for college radio movie shows), a winning Limit Hold'em player, and I can also play rhythm guitar.

But while I'm good at those things, I don't think I'm Great at anything but writing. I'm good *enough* at poker but not great yet. I think to be *great* at something it has to be your only thing and your passion.

[El Diablo]

Boro,

I'd echo Alobar's response. I do often wish that I was pursuing something where I had a legitimate chance at being the best in the world. I think I still have a chance at being the best movie director or winemaker in the world, and maybe senior tour golfer. I have yet to do any of those things, but I'm holding out hope.

"What could you be best in the world at?" is another thread we should do.

[imitation]

I played in the second team for about 8 sports in my highschool. I'm thoroughly a seconds player all round I can pick up almost any sport and play it pretty well quickly but I never get past that point, similar to my studies, recently I was top of my class for first 2 semesters studying Chinese, 3rd semester I was mid of the pack.

I like to think this is ok. But i'm longing to find something I'm really good at.

[Justin A]

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Boro,

I'd echo Alobar's response. I do often wish that I was pursuing something where I had a legitimate chance at being the best in the world. I think I still have a chance at being the best movie director or winemaker in the world, and maybe senior tour golfer. I have yet to do any of those things, but I'm holding out hope.

"What could you be best in the world at?" is another thread we should do.

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Yeah the senior tour golfer thing has been in the back of my mind for like ten years now, and I'm only 23. More recently being on the PBA tour has crept in as a "holding out hope" category.

[Golden_Rhino]

[ QUOTE ]
I played in the second team for about 8 sports in my highschool. I'm thoroughly a seconds player all round I can pick up almost any sport and play it pretty well quickly but I never get past that point, similar to my studies, recently I was top of my class for first 2 semesters studying Chinese, 3rd semester I was mid of the pack.

I like to think this is ok. But i'm longing to find something I'm really good at.

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It takes a certain amount of fortitude to A) admit you're not the greatest athlete and B) to suck it up on the second team all the time. I think you are really good at persistence, which is a pretty important quality to have.

[gumpzilla]

I used to aspire to be a Renaissance man. In the end, it would appear that what I've attained instead is a broad mediocrity. I'm "good" at a lot of things if you compare me to average, but I'm usually more interested in being good compared to people who are good, if that makes sense. Chess is a perfect example. I will beat a random person at chess quite often; playing against people who are at all serious about it as a hobby, I'll get my head ripped off and shoved down my throat.

Graduate school has made me realize that I lack the requisite monomania and concomitant work ethic to ever cut it as a top flight scientist; once that was realized, it's become more apparent to me why so many people shoot for pure monetary success, because once your initial ambitions get spanked it seems like the best way to keep score.