OCULUS REPARO

IN A WORLD SHAPED BY SPECIALISATION, THE IDEA OF A RENAISSANCE PERSON—SOMEONE WHO EXCELS ACROSS MULTIPLE DOMAINS—HAS BECOME AN INCONCEIVABLE FEAT FOR MANY. MODERN SOCIETY HAS REFINED ROLES AND DISCIPLINES TO SUCH GRANULARITY THAT WE DEFINE OUR PLACE BY MASTERING A SINGLE PART, LOSING SIGHT OF THE BROADER, MORE INTEGRATED CONCEPTIONS OF WORK THAT ONCE EXISTED.

RENAISSANCE INDIVIDUALS, BY CONTRAST, OPERATED WITH BOUNDARIES THAT WERE FAR LESS DEFINED. THEIR ROLES WERE EXPANSIVE, BLENDING WHAT WE NOW SEE AS DISTINCT DISCIPLINES INTO A COHESIVE WHOLE. THEY WERE NOT CONSTRAINED BY THE DIVISIONS WE TAKE FOR GRANTED.

IN MANY WAYS, WE HAVE BECOME PRISONERS OF THIS REFINEMENT, LEADING TO A SENSE OF AWE WHEN WE ENCOUNTER PEOPLE WHO CAN OPERATE ACROSS SEEMINGLY DISPARATE FIELDS. THEIR ABILITY TO NAVIGATE MULTIPLE DOMAINS REMINDS US OF WHAT IS POSSIBLE BEYOND THE LIMITATIONS OF SPECIALISATION.