Leonardo da Vinci’s most well-known works are (arguably) the Mona Lisa, The Last Supper and The Vitruvian Man. You must have, at some point in your life, heard of them before.
At the ArtScience Museum exhibition I found myself more fascinated by his lesser-known works. Aerodynamic parachutes. Optimal mathematical proportions and applications in natural floods and architecture. Construction of a giant, archaic bow and arrow.
The way he studied and practiced his craft was revolutionary at the time, as few bothered to study beyond their own microscopic field. He was thus able to make several connections between ideas from different disciplines. Truly a Renaissance Man.
Even modern schools are still not doing this, probably due to the perceived optimality in churning out specialists, or the difficulty in implementing this effectively. When I was in university, I viewed taking electives as a token service. Obviously this was not what the school planned for us, but still I felt that it would be more prudent of me to study within my field.
This was somewhat true. Except for the fact that I decided to YOLO in one semester, and purposely went to take on a myriad of disciplines that resulted in me feeling rather flustered and disarrayed.
That particular semester, I had to pick up calculus (there was apparently a huge gap in my previous education in calculus: the whole field of proofs), programming (in C, no less), and the study of how languages are formed and pronunciations are broken down.
To cut the story short, that semester was, in one word, excruciating.
Mentally I was useless when it came to studying many different things, and I guess this was what schools feared their students would become. I was far from a top student; I was from the very batch of students they were thinking of and thinking for. Perhaps the masses (and I do have a big mass) would be more easily pacified and given a degree if we were to specialise. Also easier to compartmentalise us, definitely.
Nowadays, I try to take it slowly. Not so many new disciplines in an examinable manner, but really focused one-by-one and taking my time to do so. Sure I’ll lose out to the fast learners, but that’s the challenge of being the underdog. Always.
rara-avis 