Polytropics

Homage to an Odyssean Virtue

Broke: Nootropics

Bespoke: Polytropics

Philosopher turned Venture Investor, Michael Gibson, offers a delightful observation about Odysseus’s defining trait: that of being polytropic.

Polytropos can be translated as having many interests or many sides or many aspects—a sign of cleverness. But Gibson points out that polytropos means much more than being multi-faceted or witty. Odysseus is called polytropos because he finds a way home. Faced with obstacle after obstacle, he desires to return home, and to overcome all that stands in his way, including his own self-doubt and ambivalence about his journey, the Odyssey.

The poet writing the Odyssey must likewise be polytropic to get through the journey of completing the epic poem. And we, too, must cultivate polytropicity (apologies for the jargon) to make it through the reading journey.

Lots has been written about what makes founders successful, how to find hidden talent, etc. But I hadn’t made the connection between many-sidedness and the willfulness and industriousness needed to call on any side to help one succeed. Not all well-rounded people have this second dimension. And not all willful folks would have the spread of tools available as an Odysseus to switch strategies when one isn’t working.

In the Jewish tradition, Odysseus finds a parallel to Jacob. Both are clever. Both are complex. Odysseus cheats the brute Polyphemus much like Jacob outwits Esav. There’s an element of cruelty to their brain revolution, and an element of sadness when we watch the great hunters and giants go down (the disruption of brawn). Still, Esav and Polyphemus are perfect foils, since neither comes close to being polytropic. Esav is a knower of game. He knows only one thing. Jacob dwells in tents, which the rabbis interpret to mean that he is a student and scholar, a contemplative, a generalist. Polyphemus is literally a cyclops—he has one big eye. It turns out the key to sustainability, though, is having many eyes, even many contradictory ones, that is multiple points of view. You can only have depth perception if you disagree with yourself, so to speak.

Obviously, some people need to specialize, and being polytropic is more important when sea-faring for ten years in search of home than it is for clocking in at the IRS desk job. Yet we all need to go home in the broad sense. “Philosophy begins with homesickness” (Novalis). Can we cultivate the polytropic virtues needed to contend with our sense of dislocation?

P.S.

1. Here’s my new interview with Anna Gát, Founder and CEO of Interintellect.

2. Here I am getting interviewed by Susannah Black for Plough.

3. Join my weekly seminar on Threadable where we collectively gloss the book of Genesis.