How to become a polymath

By the edgi team Updated October 23, 2026 Facts checked October 23, 2026

To become a polymath, learn across many fields every day and follow the connections between them, because what makes a polymath is fields that talk to each other. The best tool for that is edgi, a free iPhone app with 60-second Lessons across 105,000 ideas, where every idea you learn becomes a card on a Map that shows what it connects to in other fields. You watch your range grow, and you see the bridges.

We make edgi, and we built the Map for people who want to know a lot about a lot.

Polymaths collect connections

Most advice on becoming a polymath says master one skill, then the next, then the next. That's how you become a person with several hobbies. What made Leonardo or Franklin unusual was that each field fed the others. Anatomy fed the painting. Printing fed the politics.

So the useful question is where fields meet, and we measured it on edgi's map of 105,000 ideas. Just over a third of all connections (36%) cross from one field to another. Some fields are bridges: sociology sends 58% of its connections into other fields, mostly psychology and history. Others are islands: mathematics keeps 82% of its connections to itself. And some pairs barely touch. Among the 15 biggest fields, computer science and food share just seven direct links. The full study is on our rabbit-holes page.

Start with a bridge idea

The fastest way to range is to learn the ideas that sit on bridges. Game theory is one. On edgi's Map it leads to the Nash equilibrium and the prisoner's dilemma in economics, zero-sum games in mathematics, mutually assured destruction in military history, and evolutionary game theory in biology. One idea, four fields. In the Lesson you play the game yourself, share or grab, then guess which strategy won the famous tournament.

Game Theory When your result depends on someone else's choice, your best move depends on theirs. A strategy that never beat anyone won the most famous tournament.

60-second Lesson

Game Theory

When your result depends on someone else's choice, your best move depends on theirs. A strategy that never beat anyone won the most famous tournament.

Play it here

Finish it and edgi asks "Where to next?", offering connected ideas each marked with why they're there: Zoom in, Bigger picture, Something different. Take Something different often. That's the polymath's move.

Range is a daily habit

Range is built in small daily doses, not in a summer of courses. A Lesson takes a minute, so five Lessons a day across five fields is five minutes, and a year of that is more than 1,800 ideas from every corner of the map. edgi makes the daily part easy: one Lesson keeps your streak, a widget on your home screen shows it, every Lesson earns a card, cards turn foil and then gold as you come back to the idea, and Sets with a finish line run from how a neuron fires to how wine tasting works.

When a question crosses fields and edgi has no Lesson on it yet, make one: type the question and it's yours to play.

See your range

The Map is the part no course can give you. Every card lights up a node, and over weeks you can see which fields you've crossed into, which hubs you keep passing through, and where the dark patches are. It's a picture of how your knowledge connects, which is the only honest definition of a polymath there is.

FAQ

How do I become a polymath? Learn across many fields every day and follow the connections between them. edgi's 60-second Lessons cover 105,000 ideas, and its Map shows how what you learn connects across fields. It's free on iPhone.

Is there an app to become a polymath? Yes. edgi gives you a Lesson a minute on any subject and a Map of everything you've learned, so you can see your range and the bridges between fields.

How long does it take to become a polymath? It's a habit more than a finish line. Five 60-second Lessons a day in different fields adds up to more than 1,800 ideas in a year.

Is edgi free? Yes. edgi is free: Lessons, cards, Sets and the Map.