does skimming count as reading? I'm deciding it is, get my goodreads challenge going a little faster.
what a dull book, and how hilarious. why are there step by steps to become a polymath? and he says things like "break it down" and "break it down further". surely his version of a polymath and mine must be two different things.
please, if you are reading this with desire to become a polymath, its a laugh. you need to read literally anything else, reading this is procrastinating your own potential.
hollins is a psychologist that studies human performance and has "worked with a multitude of individuals to unlock their potential". God bless and God speed good sir, but let's be real: if you have to pick up a book to learn about how you should pick up books to learn, you need to take it easy. it might be an overwhelming start, and many are prone to burnout/disinterest. start out with the topic you loved most as a kid (bugs, plants, rocks, dinosaurs, video games), or something you're really passionate about (homelessness policy, religion, space travel), or something youre spiteful about because you hated it once and you're not gonna let it get the best of you (maths, cursive, public speaking, history of ww2, mold), then find a bunch of books on that topic and go from there. I promise, everything else will fall into place. and if it doesnt, then when you're in a conversation and you don't know something, you get to learn about it! boom, right there, you're a polymath. and learn what's available! wild wild western history is wayyy more interesting if you live next to a ranch in Texas than the war of the Roses, and one is going to be way more available in your libraries than the other. learn both, but don't disregard what's right there because it's not niche enough or smth.
yeah, anyways, skimmed it, absorbed just about as much as I would have reading it.
being a polymath doesn't mean anything when in comparison with another person, it means letting your ego settle with understand how little you know, while you make the conscious decision to be a student. as soon as you're the most knowledgeable in the room, you're in the wrong place. you don't get smart by reading books on how to get smart, you get smart by reading, practicing, failing, stumbling, and speaking comfortably about anything.