[bhickey]

> “Good students are good at all things.”

This is an unfounded and dangerous belief. Skills do not necessarily transfer. Ben Carson, for example, is by all accounts the most talented neurosurgeon to ever live. He doesn't give the impression of being qualified as a federal administrator. Another example -- back in school we had a physics Nobel Laureate who decided he was a biologist. Despite all indications to the contrary he was taken seriously in this endeavor.

[walshemj]

No they are not real polymaths are incredibly rare and don't fit the mould that rote learning and getting a 4.0.

They only one close to a real polymath I know started a company when young sold it out for $$ at a young age then decided to get a Phd in music - after a bad accident whist in traction taught himself programming - oh and was also a session musician and played on top 10 hits

[dschuler]

Your comments are hard to read because they parse ambiguously. It could be "No, they are not real. Polymaths are...", or it could begin "No, they are not real polymaths...". This makes me wonder how Latin could do without punctuation.

[WalterSear]

He's nothing of the sort: he's a hatchetman of last resort.

[stochastic_monk]

Look at Watson from Watson & Crick to see that even doing one thing well in a field doesn’t imply doing other good work in the same field, let alone the other issues.