Thursday, October 2, 2014

Polyhistor--what does it mean?


SUMMARY 
Have you ever been in college class when suddenly the professor drops a crazy word on you? You know, the word that you've never heard of before? In this video I give an overview of one of the ultimate vocab mysteries: the definition of ‘polyhistor'.

Sound interesting? 

Checkz itz outz...
If you'd rather read, I've left a transcript below for your convenience.


TRANSCRIPT Hey guys, what's going on? Josh here from Polymathics, the blog that helps you become a modern-day Renaissance man. And today we're talking about a topic that’s very near and dear to my heart. It’s one of my favorite words: "Polyhistor". What is a polyhistor? You've probably heard this term used by a professor or someone in academia. So, according to dictionary.com, a polyhistor is ‘someone of great and varied learning’. It comes from the Greek; ‘poly’ meaning many, ‘histor’ meaning education or learning. And you can also use the adjective form which is ‘polyhistoric’. With that being said, what does it mean? Essentially, in the old days, and this is a very ancient word; it actually predates ‘Renaissance man’ and it predates polymath. This was a person who had multiple expertise. Some synonyms are: Renaissance man; polymath, your every-man, your universal man, or the perfect courtier. And, as I've said in other articles, all of these were represented by Leonardo Da Vinci and Galileo. And even in modern times we have these people, like Steve Jobs. 
And,believe it or not, Arnold Schwarzenegger. These are individuals who have diversified their skills and been very successful. They used their abilities to bring man into a new era of enlightenment or understanding--or bad ass movies--however you want to see it. So that’s the term, and that’s what it means in a nutshell. Just one more thing before I go about the clarification of this word. Because it's more ancient it’s actually used a lot less. The terms that you’ll hear the most will probably be polymath or Renaissance man. Those are the two most popularised words. Until, next time, take it easy.
Follow Josh on Twitter: @Joshumusprime Check out Josh's blog here: thepolymathman.blogspot.com/ You can buy Josh's book here: http://www.amazon.com/About-Face-Josh-Coker-ebook/dp/B00N4GYB84/

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