[welanes]

> BTW, anyone know a good word for this attitude?

Got you, brah -

Dilettantism: a person having a superficial interest in an art or field of knowledge without investing the usually required effort. See also: dabbler.

[mhb]

polymyth?

[ghostly_s]

Just plain polymath will do fine, seeing as the last time anyone could make legitimate claim to this title was probably 500 years ago.

[ckozlowski]

I agree with you in principle that they're rather rare. But there's been a few in that time-span.

The most recent that comes to mind? Read about Bruce Dickinson: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Dickinson

[grogenaut]

Reading that I see musician who did a solo album and some other bands, common, who flys planes... common in actors, and is an entrepeneur.. in beer (food), all super common for someone who has made money.

I don't see a broad range here, this sounds super common, how much crap does Michael Jordan or John Travolta have in common with this guy.

I don't see: patents, masters degrees (not too hard), charities, news articles, really anything that shows he's able to just pick up anything quickly.

[alasdair_]

What about someone like Bill Gates? Programmer and businessman, sure but he also knows a fuck ton about infectious diseases and global politics and all kinds of other things.

[_Wintermute]

A fuck ton in this case is probably less than an undergraduate (micro) biologist. Hardly a polymath unless he was producing new research in the field.

[314]

Buckminster Fuller?

[ant6n]

Renaissance dilletant

[nickbauman]

I was going to say "amateurish" but I think your "dilettantism" is spot-on.

[qwertyuiop924]

Ah, what I do with programming. But I'm actually trying to gain deeper knowledge.