I Love My Toddler Essays.

Krishna: This Q made me laugh. Because, even I can't do some of these things!

But know what? A question like this distinguishes a polymath from ordinary people!

Scientists are trained to do only science!  How can they drive when they don't learn to drive or how can they play tennis if they are not trained to play tennis?

As long as they are in the labs, they are the kings and queens of their worlds and rule them with confidence. Once they come out of it they are like any ordinary person. 

There is another thing too to consider here: several intellectuals who look and say dumb things normally in the public are really quite  intelligent in doing complex things in their private lives!

 Whenever I  do my research or any other complex work, I  make a few silly mistakes sometimes while doing ordinary things outside my lab/studio & later on after realizing my mistakes I feel bad about them. My cousins consoled me several times by telling a story about a famous scientist. It seems the scientist had two cats-one kitten & its mother. The scientist built a house for his two cats. He left two openings to the house – one small (for the small cat) & one big (for the big cat). It didn’t occur to the scientist at that time – who 's considered as a genius – that one big opening was enough for both the cats!

Another story:  Norbert Wiener, an American mathematician,  was known for his absent-mindedness. He used to drive to work at Harvard in the morning and come back home in the evening. One day there was to be a change in the routine. The Wieners had sold their house and were moving to the new residence that day. His wife had spared him all the details of the transaction and simply told him that they had sold the house and were moving to another that day, so he must remember to come back in the evening to the new address, which she gave him along with instructions on how to get there. Of course, Wiener forgot and, like on every working day, came back to the old house which he found locked. He could not figure why. Then he saw a young girl standing near the gate and asked her if she knew where the Wieners had gone. The girl replied: “Yes, daddy! I will take you there. Mummy had told me to bring you when you returned here from work.” :)

A scientist’s/genius's/polymath's mind will be completely drowned in his/her thoughts & work most of the time. It doesn’t take notice of other things that happen around it & doesn’t think about normal things! So scientists/intellectuals/polymaths behave in weird & stupid ways sometimes! They make lots of mistakes while doing ordinary things. It doesn’t mean that they are stupid or weird. They just don’t care about mundane things & don’t want to waste time by thinking about them & do them very casually as their priorities lie else where. Unless & until they cut off the world around them and completely immerse their minds in their work, they cannot find solutions to the complex & difficult problems they deal with. They have to decrease the cognitive load on their minds by removing small and unimportant things from their minds. 

Several of my scientist friends too support me by saying, " If you are not making mistakes, that means your mind is not working at its full capacity!" That might lead to a burn out for some, but a polymath mind relishes it. 

I make lots of mistakes even while writing or talking. My friends and colleagues fondly call my write ups " Toddler essays" and my talks 'Toddler Talk'.  If you ask  toddlers to write  essays, they will write them with lots of mistakes. That is how my mind too becomes sometimes. Multitasking is not easy. Even science says that while multitasking people make lots of mistakes. 

 To push the limits of the boundaries of the mind to reach the maximum levels of working is a challenge and I  accepted it with pleasure. But there are several drawbacks of multi-tasking ( I do 10-12 things at any given point of  time and don't get time to correct my mistakes and even if I try I can't find them with my messy mind) and being a polymath. You will be surprised to hear this. I cannot count a bundle of hundred notes properly! I go to shops, buy things, pay  for the things I buy and forget to take change and keep losing money. I keep forgetting several things, including the names of people, places, and faces! I always keep drifting from one field to another and an interesting  interaction takes place at several levels.  Sometimes it benefits me and my work.  But I keep making silly mistakes even while performing ordinary tasks ( they don't count much in the bigger picture so I am not bothered). I am a bit slow in my reactions because I don't observe and notice my surroundings well . That is why I don't drive on the chaotic roads here. That is the price you pay for over burdening your brain. Not a very rosy picture. But well worth trying all the same! I took things in my stride and started prioritizing too. It doesn't matter if I make mistakes while sending messages etc. but while sending works for publication in journals, books, magazines etc., I try to concentrate and try not to make mistakes. And I try to correct them if I did when my mind is somewhat relaxed.  

Sometimes my followers and friends help me. 

I had to choose between being a polymath and not doing things shakily. I chose the first one and am paying the price. 

But I don't care. You can laugh at me, tease me,  ridicule me, I just laugh it away. 

When you are aiming big, small things don't matter. 

By the way, I learnt to love my Toddler essays. Because they are helping me live my dream. 

And if you don't have any important work to do, go count how many mistakes I made in this answer of mine and gossip about it with your friends.

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