Multipotentiality in the modern world
Over the past few years, I've tried different areas of work and knowledge: SEO, copywriting, marketing, anti-fraud systems, programming, blockchain development, analytics, email campaigns, and more. I wanted to earn money online, spent several years on it, and ended up with loans and disappointment.
I also worked for a long time at regular jobs that didn't require qualifications, changed them often, and after about 10 years started to feel complete hopelessness when scrolling through such vacancies.
And I constantly thought that something was seriously wrong with me, because around me (mainly in my imagination) there were so many people who had achieved success in some field, and I'm not an idiot, I can learn and even have some talents, but years later I find myself without a profession and broke.
I had many conversations about this with LLMs, and one day I was told that I'm a multipotentialite. First time in my life I heard this term, studied it a bit and realized that I'm indeed 100% a multipotentialite, and it's a bug and a feature at the same time.
In general terms, a multipotentialite is a person with multiple interests. We have very low tolerance for boredom and routine, frequent job and career changes, quick loss of interest in a task once the goal is achieved. We value novelty and challenge.
And it seems to me that the modern world in general is poorly suited for such people. Specialization and career growth are valued everywhere, and in general this is understandable — why would a business need a person who can do many things, but not professionally? They need a specialist who will qualitatively solve a task from their field.
On top of everything, I personally have schizotypal personality disorder and an existential crisis, so you can imagine my honest answer to the HR question about where I see myself in 5 years: "In a deep philosophical search for meaning, periodically switching between blockchain, Lisp, and reflections on the transience of existence". You're hired!
Of course, multipotentialites have their superpowers: good ability to synthesize ideas, rapid learning thanks to breadth of knowledge, adaptability and switching between different modes of thinking.
But so far I have the impression that such people are practically not talked about, we seem to be absent as a phenomenon, and for most people a multipotentialite is a lazy dude who can't find himself. I myself have often seen these arrogant looks of pity in my direction or just tactful silence. Nowadays, the ability to persistently hammer away at one topic for a long time, developing expertise, is valued. And I completely agree that such an approach is very effective in a world with high competition, where there's no easy money. But I don't like the fact that people who can't or don't want to do this are classified as losers and slackers.