Are there modern day renaissance beings?

In Creativity and Innovation this week we discussed the original 'renaissance man' - Leonardo Da Vinci. These were people that were experts in more than one field, that could connect the disciplines of art and science and excel at both. Also known as polymath, the argument that is commonly used to explain their apparent demise in recent time is that, as the sum of human knowledge expands at an ever increasing rate, it is simply too much to expect that someone can be an expert in more than one field. Think about it. What do you so for a living? What are your hobbies? Do you feel like you have enough time on your hands to learn everything there is to know about both?! I think most people struggle to feel like they ever really get a handle on one area. Even in study, you start off learning more broadly about a discipline (sustainability for me), and then as you go further in your studies you begin to narrow your focus. First when you do a masters, again when you complete a PhD. We are in a pattern now where the knowledge we collect becomes more specialized the more we learn, not broader.

So, are there any examples of a modern day polymath? Perhaps there are if we open ourselves up to consider unlikely possibilities. This article even suggests Sylvester Stallone could be one! I also think about my study at university. There is a huge emphasis on interdisciplinary work. I am studying sustainability which involved the consideration of many 'wicked problems'. These issues require solutions that cross disciplinary boundaries. As the world faces more and more issues of this nature, perhaps we will see a move away from specialization. At the moment, this often seems to mean getting people from different disciplines together when trying to solve problems. However, in the future, perhaps it will be group of people who know lots about multiple fields. People who don't just work with other disciplines, but who are interdisciplinary.