In a 2021 paper, published in the journal Psychological Review, Shigehiro Oishi makes the case that, along with happiness and meaning - which we consider the essential building blocks of a good life - there's a third component of human well-being.
Psychological richness.
“A significant reason why neither a happy life nor a meaningful life captures the full range of human motivation is that both happy and meaningful lives can be monotonous,” Oishi writes.
It's spot on.
Psychological richness means you're having interesting experiences.
You're learning new stuff.
You're rethinking your assumptions and views.
And that leads to a richer life.
Oishi points out that many professions now reward specialists who do one thing and do it well, while discouraging polymathic skills or interests.
When you hear the word “polymath”, what comes to mind?
If your answer is something fuzzy or nothing at all, don't worry.
Just hang in there.
Wikipedia defines a polymath as “an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems.”
Leonardo Da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa and pioneered scientific studies of human anatomy.
Hedy Lamarr invented technology that inspired GPS and became a famous movie star.
Bo Jackson was an all-star MLB outfielder and an all-star NFL running back.
David Bowie threw jazz chords into rock songs, hopped musical genres inside the same record, changed sounds, genres, and visual styles from record to record.
Mae Jemison started out as a dancer and then became an engineer, physician, tech entrepreneur and a NASA astronaut and was the first black woman to travel in space.
In their pursuit of knowledge across different fields, polymaths are able to connect the dots between seemingly unrelated ideas, which helps them become better critical thinkers and innovators.
Following their curiosity, they scavenge for information.
They ask better questions.
They practice without worrying about perfection.
They screw up a lot.
A lot.
Because that's a part of the process.
That's how they learn how to do better next time.
A few years ago I read an interview with Steve Jobs. Steve said any new idea is nothing more than a new combination of old elements. He said the ability to make those new combinations depends on our ability to see relationships. That’s what makes some people more creative. They are better at spotting those connections, better at recognizing possible relationships. They are able to do this because they’ve had more experiences, or thought more about those experiences, than other people. They are better at connecting the dots because they have more dots to connect. Steve said that this was the problem in the ‘creative’ industries. Most people haven’t had diverse experiences. They may know a lot, but only about a very narrow field. So they don’t have enough dots to connect. And so they end up with predictable, linear solutions. " - Dave Trott
Living in a highly achievement-oriented society, it’s hard to enjoy things just for the sake of doing them.
You inevitably face this inner urge to be good or even perfect at them.
Though, is that always a good thing?
Turns out, the American writer Kurt Vonnegut has some truly powerful insights on this topic.
With the following quote, Kurt tells a damn fine story about an archaeologist who changed his mindset forever.
Kurt Vonnegut is typing now:
“When I was 15, I spent a month working on an archeological dig. I was talking to one of the archeologists one day during our lunch break and he asked those kinds of “getting to know you” questions you ask young people: Do you play sports?
What’s your favorite subject?
And I told him, no I don’t play any sports.
I do theater, I’m in choir, I play the violin and piano, I used to take art classes.
And he went WOW.
That’s amazing!
And I said, “Oh no, but I’m not any good at ANY of them.”
And he said something then that I will never forget and which absolutely blew my mind because no one had ever said anything like it to me before:
“I don’t think being good at things is the point of doing them.
I think you’ve got all these wonderful experiences with different skills, and that all teaches you things and makes you an interesting person, no matter how well you do them.”
And that honestly changed my life.
Because I went from a failure, someone who hadn’t been talented enough at anything to excel, to someone who did things because I enjoyed them.
I had been raised in such an achievement-oriented environment, so inundated with the myth of Talent, that I thought it was only worth doing things if you could “Win” at them.”
Whether or not this story is ultimately a myth remains a mystery.
Still, it’s a thoughtful anecdote.
There’s a lot there to unpack.
Kurt reminds us that we don’t have to be the best at something to enjoy doing it.
We can simply enjoy doing it.
Just for kicks.
"Specialization is for insects," the science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein famously wrote.
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly." - Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough For Love
That's a hell of a lot higher standard than I can meet.
But Heinlein's ideal of wide-ranging competency is an excellent goal, however imperfectly any of us might achieve it.
The key in this pursuit is a willingness to push the boundaries of our comfort zones.
Many people don’t have hobbies because they're afraid of being bad at them.
Or rather, they are intimidated by the expectation that they must excel at what they do in their free time.
Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be this way.
Lots of things are worth doing because they bring you joy, and for no other reason.
Create for the sake of creation, write for the sake of writing and try for the sake of trying.
Get fascinated by ‘new’ stuff.
Break from your routine.
Sing in the shower.
Dance to the radio.
Play the guitar.
Cook.
Climb.
Read.
Travel off the beaten track.
Carve wooden spoons.
Paint.
Study foreign languages.
You will never know when these things collide together to form a new idea.
When you get discouraged, invoke Kurt Vonnegut.
The idea that it’s not bad—and possibly even a good thing—to not excel at something can help shatter the notion that any pursuit must be a means to achievement.
In his study, Oishi says that a dying person who has led a happy life might look back and say, “I had fun!”
A person who has led a meaningful life might say, “I made a difference!”
But a person who has led a psychologically rich life might say, “What a journey!”
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