Polymaths

On Famous Polymaths. Rob Mielcarski, un-denial. Sep. 3, 2018.


There are two and only two topics required to understand the basis of every success and problem in our civilization: thermodynamics and genetic behavior.


By thermodynamics I mean:

• the laws of thermodynamics that govern our universe
• the relationships between energy, economy, wealth, population, and pollution
• the relationship between debt and surplus energy
• the maximum power principle of biology
• the history of energy use
• the types, sources, qualities, density, scalability, and applications of energy
• the discovery rate, consumption rate, and reserves of non-renewable energy
• what is and is not feasible with, and the dependencies of, non-fossil energy

By genetic behavior I mean:

• human behaviors that are mostly hard-wired
• genetic behaviors that contributed to our unique success and predicament
• why those genetic behaviors evolved

Why is it that every famous intellectual understands many topics except the only two topics that really matter: thermodynamics and genetic behavior?

• Steven Pinker
• Sam Harris
• Jordan Peterson
• Noam Chomsky
• Sean Carroll
• Yuval Noah Harari
• David Suzuki
• David Attenborough
• Neil deGrasse Tyson
• Stephen Hawking
• Lawrence Krauss
• Elon Musk
• Stewart Brand
• James Hansen
• Matt Ridley
• Richard Dawkins
• Frans de Waal
• James Lovelock
• Jared Diamond
• Joe Rogan
• Michael Pollan
• Ken Burns
• Chris Hedges
• Vaclav Smil
• Niall Ferguson
• Alan Greenspan
• Thomas Sowell
• John Kenneth Galbraith
• David Stockman
• Joseph Stiglitz
• Paul Krugman
• and many others

Why is it that there is no famous intellectual (nor political or business leader) who understands thermodynamics and genetic behavior?

???


Why is it that the few intellectuals who do understand thermodynamics and genetic behavior are distinctly not famous?

• Dennis Meadows
• Tom Murphy
• William Catton
• William Rees
• Charles Hall
• Nate Hagens
• Tim Garrett
• Jay Hanson
• David Korowicz
• Tim Watkins
• Paul Chefurka
• Reg Morrison
• Jack Alpert
• Richard Heinberg
• Joseph Tainter
• George Mobus
• Dave Cohen
• Gail Zawacki
• Jason Bradford
• Nicole Foss
• Steve Ludlum
• James @ Megacancer
• xraymike79
• and very few others

This can’t be an accidental coincidence because famous polymaths are fluent in many topics.

I suspect the answer is that famous polymaths deny everything they don’t want to know, and they wouldn’t be famous if they didn’t, because their audience doesn’t want to understand those topics either.

It’s a fascinating phenomenon to observe once you see it.


P. S.

Why is there only one person in the world, a cranky old retired electrical engineer, who writes about genetic reality denial?

I suspect because denial is the reality that must be most aggressively denied to avoid collapsing the house of cards that keeps us functioning.