Pushing the boundaries of knowledge, by the Polymath.
Polymath is a powerful concept that has shaped much of human progress. It’s about excelling in multiple fields, and historically, polymaths have been the ones pushing the boundaries of knowledge.
Take Al-Khawarizmi, whose contributions to mathematics are foundational for modern science.
Or De Morgan, whose work in logic and mathematics helped shape the computational age.
Leonardo da Vinci is another prime example — he’s a polymath who saw no boundaries between disciplines. We all know his creations.
Let’s explore how polymath De Morgan was, based on his biography. was indeed a super polymath.
Now we know, all the legends & magicians that linger in our minds share the same attributes in life, they were polymaths
Will there be another polymath in this era?
If polymaths have driven the world forward by connecting ideas across fields, how quickly will we see the next polymath emerge in today’s world?
we’re in the age where information is abundant and technology evolves at breakneck speeds, is it possible for us in this century to witness the ‘magic’ of a polymath again?
Today, we are facing a similar kind of revolution, but this time, it’s happening faster than ever. AI technologies, for instance, are evolving at breakneck speeds. Pak Gita Wirjawan has always pointed out that these advancements come with their own set of challenges, such as hallucinations in AI systems. To tackle these issues, we need more interdisciplinary discussion. AI cannot just be developed by technologists alone because, as technologists, we tend to focus only on what we are developing.
To determine the direction AI should take, we need input from multiple disciplines. Interdisciplinary perspectives are crucial for guiding these technologies toward meaningful outcomes.
In fact, I recently came across a book written by a remarkable individual that emphasizes this point. Take a look at the work of thinkers like Henry Kissinger, Craig Mundie, and Eric Schmidt.
Henry Kissinger, with his background in diplomacy, has shaped global policy for decades.
Craig Mundie, a Senior Advisor for CEO in Microsoft.
Eric Schmidt, a former Google executive.
Their work demonstrates that combining expertise from multiple fields is the key to driving major advancements. It’s a reminder that this approach is more important than ever. It’s 3 atleast powerful person in the world writing a book about where the AI should be coming from different background. Their opinion, in this book.
Democratization of Information Speed up the Process of Industry Revolution
In the past, revolutions like the steam engine and the discovery of electricity took centuries to unfold. These advancements reshaped industries and opened new doors for progress. But today, the invention of the internet has dramatically sped up that timeline. Major breakthroughs that once took hundreds of years are now happening in just a few decades.
And yet, despite these advancements, some regions of the world — like rural Indonesia — remain entrenched in the slower pace of industrial 1.0.
So, we’re left with a question
how do we navigate this accelerating pace of change? The gap between the discovery of electricity and the internet was just 10 years, compared to the 300–400 years it took for the steam engine to lead to electricity. The exponential growth of AI forces us to rethink what’s possible.
We are in the midst of a transformation, but the real question isn’t just about the technology itself — it’s about how we can keep up with it. This rapid pace isn’t something humanity has ever encountered before.
We need more polymaths to solve as many problems as possible in this world.
But looking ahead, have you ever thought that we’re currently living in a world where every individual has access to their own polymath assistant.
GPT, DeepSeek, and Perplexity give us access to an abundance of knowledge. Imagine, what if the LLMs took an IQ test and turned out to surpass a 160 IQ? (Still far away, but the trend is getting here. They’re just getting smarter because all of us, human indirectly keep training them to be the best model)
It’s the same as having Leonardo da Vinci as your assistant, but instead of painting the Mona Lisa, he’s helping you pick the best color for your PowerPoint presentation.
Or Albert Einstein reviewing your research thesis.
And the mighty legend, Al-Khawarizmi, stepping in to help with your Calculus problem.
While these tools are still far from perfect, they have the potential to push the boundaries of what we can discover, offering us the ability to explore knowledge that was once unimaginable. That’s how AI can be your “polymath” assistant.
Let’s think about it: If polymaths like Leonardo da Vinci or Al-Khawarizmi had access to the same tools we have today, where would they take us? With AI, they might not just be limited to their own era — they might have explored space, create quantum time travelling portal, or even developed theories that we still haven’t imagined.
AI gives us a way to speed up human exploration and discovery, much like polymaths did, but with the advantage of exponentially greater resources.
Are we truly ready for the future that these tools promise? Are we prepared to manage the rapid transformation already underway? This is not just about keeping pace with AI,
it’s a paradigm shift in how we approach learning, problem-solving, and discovery.
Will we rise to this challenge, or will we be left behind as the world accelerates past us? Throughout my hypothesis, the faster revolutionary industries come, the larger the margin for error. And as the margin of error grows, it accelerates in two directions the smart get smarter, and the dumber become even dumber.
Nothing changes,
except the speed, and the disparity between them grows larger and faster.
