Those are the people who ideologically identify with Polymathica. However, many will find that Polymathica's offering of news, analysis, commentary, products, services and content will resonate with them better than other sources. As they register to consume them, our Membership will likely increase to around 15,000,000. This, then is Polymathica at its maturity, a phrase that we use throughout this presentation.
We tend to think of Polymathicans as an uncommon, in fact odd, personality type. Indeed we are. However, the world is so huge that even 0.35% of the population is a lot of people.
What do we mean by refined and erudite?
Erudition, simply means possessing great knowledge. However, as used to describe a culture, it is a statement of values, not necessarily a condition. In other words, Polymathicans cherish knowledge for its own sake, even though they may be dissatisfied with the body of knowledge they possess. In fact, many of the most erudite people in the world are still dissatisfied with their body of knowledge. We also can think of them, perhaps more constructively, as people who are 'generally interested' rather than 'generally not interested.'
Refinement is a complex word that is meant to describe Polymathicans in some of its definitions, but not all. The definition that is most direct is the 3 (b) definition in Merriam Webster. It refers to subtlety of design, conception or presentation. As an example of this definition, we might ask whether greater refinement could be accomplished with a fuzzy photograph. It is a good way to think of it. Polymathicans strive for a more densely pixelated or higher definition world view. Shades of gray are seen as significant, even essential to proper understanding of the world around them. Rather than being inclined toward a univariate 'cause and effect' explanation of an event, Polymathicans look for complex, multivariate systems of causation.
To be sure, this does apply to matters of aesthetics, which has often led to the impression among many people that refinement is mostly about fancy clothes, fine art and expensive food. Refined people do tend to see and appreciate the subtleties of well conceived and executed items, from the mundane to the purely decorative. However, that is an effect of a refined outlook, not the meaning of refinement per se.
Refinement has come to mean politeness and urbane behavior. While etymologically weak, for the most part, Polymathicans do subscribe to these as social norms. Rarely, among Polymathicans, do you hear excessive cursing or invective. Ad hominem is uncommon. Polymathicans tend to speak about ideas and events, not personalities. This is the direct result of a densely pixelated world view that grants a measure of value to many different perspectives.
Erudition and refinement go together. The more you know, the more densely pixelated will be your world view and hence the more urbane your behavior, the more nuanced your opinions and the more profoundly you will appreciate quality wherever it is to be found.
As the Transformation progresses, incomes will explode and whole populations will move up Maslow's Hierarchy where they will come to emphasize self-actualization, self-improvement, aesthetics, transcendence and social justice. They will incorporate these values into their 'finely crafted lives.' Polymathicans are doing this already.
Corollary Values and Behaviors
Polymathicans are defined as refined and erudite. However, there are several values and behaviors that generally follow from these.
- Extensive reading. Polymathicans tend to be lifelong, autodidactic learners. This usually means that they are voracious readers for the sake of learning. For some Polymathicans that means systematic, textbook based learning programs. For others it is a less structured exploration of the Internet.
- Apollonian lifestyles. The tension between the Apollonian and Dionysian perspectives has become more refined since Nietszche. Human personality should contain a healthy measure of both intellect and emotions. The matter of Apollonian and Dionysian is that of dominance. Do emotions overrule your good sense? (Dionysian) Or does your intellect provide bounds for emotional expression? (Apollonian). We have found that the quintessential Polymathican tends to be more Apollonian.
- An aversion to confirmation bias. A recent study found that intelligence does not indemnify against confirmation or 'my side' bias. The reduction of confirmation bias is a cultural value that results from social reinforcement. Because Polymathicans pursue erudition, confirmation bias is anathema.
- An aversion to Dunning-Kruger Effect. Discussions of the Dunning-Kruger Effect tend to treat as if it as an inescapable human personality characteristic. However, research has found that its prevalence varies greatly by culture. For example, it is nearly non-existent in some Eastern cultures. Because Polymathicans are dedicated to erudition, it is a corollary cultural value to fight against 'DKE'.
- Balanced political views. Because refinement looks for and embraces nuanced interactions, it is not consistent with the Polymathican culture to assert simplistic partisan positions on complex social and political issues. Consequently, Polymathicans typically embrace aspects of both liberal and conservative political philosophy.
Pew Research has found that in the U.S. Democrats and Republicans are abandoning the middle ground and have now effectively created an ideologically bimodal population. It is becoming clear that they are heading for a 'divorce' since the distance between the medians has become too great to make compromise attractive.
Actually, the 'Left' and the 'Right' are comprised of a few related but different cultural outlooks. However, Polymathicans do not fit comfortably into any of them. It is not a common life outlook, but then 4,500,000 is a very small percentage of the 1.7 billion or so people in Western Civilization. No electoral process will pay much attention to 0.35% of the electorate.
What is important from the perspective of our Enterprise Network is that Polymathicans are generally affluent. As our large population of inappropriately excluded members use P.E.N. to enable their finely crafted life, they will quickly become even more so. They also have distinctly different preferences in products, services, content and networks and they are poorly served at present. This makes them a potentially profitable market and, while not enormous, large enough to support many enterprises.
It also means that Polymathicans will tend to be economically insular. In other words, they will have a tendency to buy from one another. This behavior increases wealth within a population that exhibits the behavior. This will also push Polymathica into the Information Age economy more quickly than the general population.
Conclusion
Polymathicans are not much like those around them. It is true that their substantially higher mean IQ contributes to that. However, the values of erudition and refinement stands in stark contrast to the generally ignorant and crude, often vulgar, cultures in which they are imbedded. So, as Polymathica matures, its members will come to consider their membership progressively more self-definitional and our cultural identity will grow substantially.
Excellent read. Thank you!
ReplyDeletedoes this initiative still exist? has something come out of it?
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