The Value of an Untamed Mind
Lessons from Leonardo da Vinci
They call you a flake, scatterbrained, an airhead, or even a lunatic.
The hive mind has no good reason for why your mind is always wandering, and you lack the skill and knowledge to capitalize on your wandering mind.
By the end of this, you will have the skill and infrastructure to build for yourself a life of successful wandering.
Stuck in the Past
Society scorns the wandering mind and is resolved only to allow its propagation in children, and even then, some think children should quickly grow out of this phase. They subscribe to the idea that it’s better to be a master of one; instead, I propose that you super-position yourself.
Encourage yourself to think beyond right and wrong, and embrace the uncertainty of the future rather than boxing yourself into rigid categories. In the past, you spent decades mastering a narrow field of expertise; in the future, you will spend decades working and collaborating in many different fields, each one giving you a piece of the whole. The phrase “jack of all trades, master of none” will be considered a good thing, and we might learn the latter part of the phrase “but oftentimes better than master of one”.
We do not know where the next opportunities will be for us or what skills will be most useful to society. By being nimble and quick to learn, we open ourselves up and position ourselves to leap upon new ideas. Not only are we more open to career shifts, but we are more open to being flexible in our personalities and what it is we represent on any given day. - Discussing the Future of Humans & Work
You can become an expert in a field while still having many different vessels and crafts to which you give your energy. Your ability to build upon the knowledge that you have learned in one field of expertise will expand exponentially by being able to create and discover connections from other fields of knowledge.
Let us analyze and scrutinize the life of Leonardo da Vinci, and we will see a man who is renowned for his genius, who made discoveries in many different fields, and who also got little done with little to show for his long life.
“In learning and in the rudiments of letters he would have made great proficiency, if he had not been so variable and unstable, for he set himself to learn many things, and then, after having begun them, abandoned them.” (Vasari, 1996).
“I have also seen him, as the caprice or whim took him, set out at midday, […] from the Corte Vecchio, where he was at work on the clay model of the great horse, and go straight to the Grazie and there mount on the scaffolding and take up his brush and give one or two touches to one of the figures and suddenly give up and go away again” (Nicholl, 2004; Vecce, 2006).
Today, there are two competing views on da Vinci. One side views him as a genius who saw things far beyond his time, and that his interests in varying fields allowed him to see the greater whole. The variety of interests gave him insight into connections between fields he would have never made had he dedicated his soul, life, and attention to painting. The second view is that da Vinci was too distracted for his own good; some claim he had ADHD, and his wandering mind stopped him from focusing on any given project and seeing it through to completion. Not that what he accomplished wasn’t impressive, but imagine what he could’ve produced had he narrowed his focus to a single craft. This group claims that da Vinci is over-hyped and should not be put on a pedestal or regarded as one of the greatest thinkers of antiquity.
The quotes below express this with vigor:
“The tension between grit (focus) and range (exploration) is essential in any creative endeavor. While Leonardo’s wide-ranging interests showcase the benefits of an open mind, they also highlight the limitations of not applying oneself consistently. The argument is not against exploration but rather for integrating focus into that exploration. By maintaining an open mind while also committing to specific projects, individuals can achieve both breadth and depth in their pursuits.
Sitzfleisch means ‘sitting flesh.’ It’s a slang term for the buttocks. But it also means sitting your buttocks down to do some work.
While Leonardo’s scattered approach had its merits, it also led to unfinished projects and unrealized potential. This duality emphasizes the need for balance. An open mind should not preclude discipline; rather, it should complement it. As noted in the discussion about ‘Sitzfleisch,’ sometimes, success requires sitting down and committing to a task
And yet - there’s something to be said for grit as well. For focus, for single-mindedness. For applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair, and seeing a painting or two through.” - Sam Kean
I believe that both sides of the argument have merit; the enigma that was da Vinci stemmed from his genuine curiosity and his willingness to follow it wherever it led him at the expense of depth. A curiosity so strong that even the patronage of a pope could not hold him to one task and stop him from moving on from a project when he lost interest. You heard that right: the Vatican hired da Vinci to complete a piece of artwork known now as St. Jerome in the Wilderness. He spent so much time inventing a new way to preserve the piece and dissecting cadavers that he never completed the artwork. The pope remarked, “This man will never accomplish anything, for he begins by thinking about the end before the beginning.” Da Vinci took curiosity to a new level!
His proclivity to lose interest and move on damaged his reputation as a reliable commissioned artist during his lifetime and placed him in poverty. But for whatever earthly treasure he missed out on, he gained twofold in treasures of mind and spirit.
“Mind wandering can fuel creativity and originality; restlessness can move to seeking novelty and action for change.” - Gray Matter
How does this apply today? Similar to the two competing theories of da Vinci’s genius, there are two theories for what the future will look like. The two competing opinions are:
By focusing on one field or industry and saying no to everything else, you position yourself for success.
Becoming familiar with and being involved in numerous fields equips you to keep up with the economic environment that is changing at a progressively quicker pace.
The first argument makes sense; this is how things have always been. For the majority of history, success depended on your ability to excel and become an expert in a certain craft or field of knowledge. Even da Vinci struggled to obtain success during his lifetime because his interests were too wide, and he was never able to narrow his obsession to one field.
Walking into the Future
The future will not look like the past. The future is new and will require a new breath of understanding and positioning for you to succeed. With the use of A.I. and a progressively socially connected world, the ability to spread oneself widely and still become successful is becoming a reality. I can make an argument using game theory that by being a generalist, you will outcompete a specialist in the end.
Approach
In a cooperative game with five players, there are 2^5 = 32 possible coalitions (nodes in the coalition tree). Since displaying all 32 nodes in a single graph would be overwhelming, I’ve simulated a representative 10-turn sequence where the coalition evolves by adding or removing one player each turn. This sequence explores different parts of the coalition tree, providing a dynamic view of player performance.
For each turn:
Coalition Definition: A specific coalition is defined (e.g., {}\{\}{}, {G1}\{G1\}{G1}, {G1,G2}\{G1, G2\}{G1,G2}, etc.); where generalist {G} and specialist {S}.
Payoff Calculation: The coalition’s payoff is determined based on the number of Generalists and Specialists, with synergy bonuses for certain combinations.
Player Contribution: The Shapley value is computed for the current coalition, distributing the payoff fairly among the players in that coalition based on their average marginal contributions across all possible joining orders. Players not in the coalition receive a contribution of zero for this turn.
Cumulative Tracking: Each player’s contributions are accumulated over the 10 turns to show their total performance up to each point. (assimilated by Grok)
Overall, what we see here is that the generalists, on average, bring more to the table than the specialists. With the economy and job markets becoming increasingly volatile, their ability to pivot will be economically and socially rewarded more than their ability to climb the corporate ladder in any given field.
How to build different channels and why this is beneficial
In my own life, I have developed a plethora of crafts, rituals, and communities that keep my mind and body both stimulated and creatively charged. Almost all of these crafts and rituals are my passions that I keep fun and give no external obligation to. I do not use them as a means to an end or to keep me economically afloat; they are purely a means for my enjoyment and vessels for me to express myself. This keeps them charged with creative energy that would otherwise be thwarted if I thought they all had to benefit me economically. This keeps them pure, simple, and containing a constant stream of energy that I can tap into at any moment.
My energy has risen so much by having passion projects that I believe everyone should do the same thing by curating their own crafts, rituals, and communities.
Rule #1: These channels have to start out as fun; you must have no preconceived notions about what they may turn into. If you want to tap into a raw energy field, you have to keep these channels raw. If you turn the channels into work or start comparing your progress and skill level to others, you will lose the inviting and energizing youthful spirit derived from these passion projects. The sense of wonder that was there becomes muggy, and you will quickly lose interest and drive.
The Art of Wandering
How does the art of wandering work?
When you have multiple vessels to put differing energies into, you will have a diverse environment that fosters creativity and productivity. A person with multiple vessels of creative energy will have a diverse and dynamic creative environment. This approach gives you multiple outlets to put your energy into, keeping you in harmony with differing energetic frequencies. Here is what it will look like:
Physical Workspace
Your physical environment is a bridge for your mind to disperse differing energies:
Create multiple workstations or areas dedicated to different creative pursuits
Curate a variety of tools, materials, and mediums readily available for different projects
Assign the space to only creating
For example:
Writing desk with a computer for literary work
Easel and art supplies for painting
Workbench for crafting or building prototypes
Music corner with instruments and recording equipment
Digital Environment
In the digital realm:
Separate computers or devices for different projects
Multiple software applications for various creative tasks
Cloud-based storage systems to organize and access different projects
Time Management
To manage multiple creative pursuits:
A schedule that allocates specific time blocks to different activities
Project management system to track progress on various endeavors (for this, I use Notion)
Regular review sessions to assess and adjust priorities
Mental Approach
Psychologically, the protocol will provide:
The ability to context-switch between different creative modes
A mindset that values diverse experiences and inputs
Techniques for capturing, organizing, and connecting ideas across different domains
Benefits and Challenges
Benefits:
Reduced creative burnout by allowing shifts between different types of work
Cross-pollination of ideas between different creative domains
Ability to progress on multiple projects simultaneously
Challenges:
Potential for distraction or lack of deep focus
Need for effective organization and time management
Risk of spreading oneself too thin across too many projects
By maintaining multiple vessels for creative energy, you can create a rich, stimulating environment that nurtures various aspects of your creativity, much like Leonardo da Vinci did with his wide-ranging interests and pursuits.
Finally, I leave you with a quote by Leonardo himself:
‘Men of Lofty Genius sometimes accomplish the most when they work least… for their minds are occupied with their ideas and the perfection of their conceptions, to which they afterwards give form’. - da Vinci
Further, let this video inspire you as you take flight into the world of your imagination.