Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?
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Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.
Posted because I didn't see Zorba post one today. Feel free to delete if that's an issue.
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Notes -
I've been thinking a lot about successful dilettantes lately as I'm reading The Power Broker and watching some current pols in action. What are some other great Dilettantes in history? I'm defining successful dilettante-ism as:
Someone who has independent personal or family wealth or means of support
Who practices in and excels at a field of study, vocation, or skill that is normally pursued by professionals who do so for a living.
Obviously greater success makes them more interesting, as do particularly egregious examples of dilettantism like getting support from family to fail upward into a career or field that he is not qualified for but excels at. The definition of dilettante doesn't typically include competence, and I assume that incompetence is the norm in the grouping, I'm interested in the examples that beat the odds.
Pretty much every natural philosopher/scientist before the 20th century counts, they were pretty much all "amateurs" who conducted experiments as a hobby, and were largely independently wealthy gentlemen who could afford such esoteric pursuits.
Newton, Darwin, barring a few of the more entrepreneurial types in the US in the late 19th century, they should all be considered dilettantes by modern standards.
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