"There's nothing worse in life than being ordinary." - Angela ("American Beauty" film 1999)

It was relatively simpler to be a "Renaissance man" or "polymath" during the Renaissance.  A Renaissance man was typically a scholar who amassed knowledge in several areas, sometimes to the point of attaining fame. Leonardo da Vinci is the famous poster man for this notion.

However, for scholars and artist of that day there was far less knowledge to learn in the first place. How would Mr. da Vinci fare today in the 21st century as an artist and engineer? There are so many more choices to make and things to learn. Not only that, a variety of technical institutions such as the Internet provide a blur of all the world's knowledge at anyone's fingertips.  It is fashionable, if not mandatory, to be a specialist.

One workaround to the knowledge explosion is to seek similar patterns in non-similar fields. In fact, that concept underpins the ideas in this website as such scientific physical objects as telescopes and antennas are analogized to consciousness and awareness scenarios. Awareness of similar or resonant patterns tremendously multiplies an ability to form insights. Norbert Wiener's Cybernetics book mentioned on page 1 is an example of analogous pattern insights. That's exactly what the great mathematician did, so why shouldn't we follow his example at Open Mystic?

Most everyone reading this will have some idea of what a polymath/Renaissance personis.  It is taken to be someone who is skillful and knowledgeable in several areas. Per suggestions #2 and #3 on page 4, the person electing to expand their temporal aperture is choosing to be a renaissance person. The word renaissance in French comes from the verb naître - to be born. Although the term refers in its first meaning to a historical period following the Dark Ages, we may look upon a person who has resolved to continuously expand their knowledge and awareness - their temporal aperture - as being reborn repeatedly as they grow and inevitably change.  It is impossible for a single individual to actualize every potential interest of which they may become aware - there are so many human limitations.  It is necessary to simply acknowledge, accept, respect, and simply be open to new possibilities.

There's a difference when we discuss temporal aperture expansion as opposed to the Renaissance person notion per se. In the temporal aperture case we're not setting any nominal every-day-world limits. It would be great to be both an accomplished engineer and a famous artist - a genuine renaissance person, but may it be suggested that are infinite possibilities beyond those worldly endeavors? It would be satisfying to pursue this hunt and maybe even succeed. 

Making a directed effort to become a Renaissance person is an "all-in-one" solution to life satisfaction and spiritual advancement:

1.  Achieving a breadth of mind to the greatest extent possible, i.e. working to become a "Renaissance person", naturally and implicitly breaks down crusty psychological filters thereby freeing the person for new chance insights derived from integration of divergent knowledge and experience.
2.  The broad "Renaissance person" mindset - maximally inclusive temporal aperture - furthermore gives that person a broader set of tools with which to interpret new insights.
3.  Very importantly, the broad mind has more personal resources available for when psychological conflicts may arise.  Awareness of insights from the margin of consciousness - "Arrow Catching" - can be hazardous due to unforeseen conflicts in beliefs and existing knowledge.  Arrow Catching in this sense requires preparation and skill to keep from being injured just as it does in the literal sense of the expression.

Getting from French to Latin, the expression of the day is "Semper Factotal" ("always doing everything").

| foreword - please read first  | site map |  go to page 8 |

Page 7 - Your comments are welcome.