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[immunizer]

It is said that the specialist learns more and more about less and less until eventually he knows everything about nothing; and the generalist learns less and less about more and more until eventually he knows nothing about everything.  It seems to me that grad school is an excellent way to become a specialist.  How does one become a generalist these days?

I'm currently wrapping up my BS in theoretical math at the local inexpensive/nonselective institution of marginally higher education.  I'm what they like to call "non-traditional," being in my early 30s and with about 10 years as a systems administrator under my belt.  I love school.  I want to continue my education.  But, to be honest, I have limited interest in continuing in mathematics.  I'm delighted with the knowledge I've earned over the last few years and with the new precision available to me as I go about measuring the world perceptually.  I feel like I've gained access to invaluable tools and insight into the world that I lacked before I learned to do proper sums.  But I'm ready for something new, and I don't see a direct path that takes me through grad school--especially over the long run.

How can I continue to pursue a broad education for the rest of my life?  Are there good options besides getting a part-time job and pursuing additional bachelor's degrees until such time as I die or find my niche?  This seems a viable option: I'm not terribly consumptive, and with my industry experience I could probably make a decent hourly wage working part-time.  Keep in mind that I'm not concerned with whether the end-result is a job teaching or researching - I simply want the ability to investigate the world of thought in as unconstrained a fashion as possible.  And I'd like to be able to eat (minimally) and stay (marginally) warm while doing it. 

As Whitehead said: "It is the business of the future to be dangerous."  I understand that a time may well come when a proper career becomes necessary.  But please don't bother arguing that my dream is ill-conceived.  I'm only interested in how I can achieve it; you needn't tell me how I can fail.  All help will be appreciated.

Thank you!

[hegemony]

Of course the simplest way to do this is to read a lot of books.  I'm guessing that you'd like more of a structure and some companionship from fellow students along the way.  In that case, Continuing Education courses can be more or less satisfying (by which I mean that sometimes they're populated by smart engaged learners, and sometimes less so).  There are also great summer and vacation courses at various spots in the world.  I think those are probably the way you want to go if you're interested in a continuing broad education.  You're right that graduate schools focus on a more specialized education.

[larryc]

Sounds like journalism or non-fiction writing to me.

[pigou]

I'd argue that specializing in graduate school doesn't preclude you from being a generalist. I don't know enough about theoretical mathematics to make useful suggestions, but applied mathematics is usually in demand everywhere. If you can build computational models and do statistical analysis, you ought to be welcome in any field. With those tools, you can build models for climatologists and ecologists one day and for economists and linguists the next. Googling 'computational social science' might also give you some ideas as to the diverse questions that are being investigated computationally. Generally, this isn't done by mathematicians, so I trust plenty of issues remain that will be obvious to a trained mathematician.

I don't know if this is what you imagine as a generalist. However, I'd caution that knowing a little about everything isn't always valuable - and knowing a lot about everything doesn't seem feasible. So if you want to push the boundaries, so to speak, you have to be outstanding at something. If you want to dabble in multiple fields, then you ought to try and be outstanding at something applicable to all fields. If you look at economists, for example, you will find some who investigate all sorts of questions that, at first glance, have nothing to do with economics. It just turns out that certain methodological tools end up being useful to answer questions they weren't originally designed for.

[brixton]

My initial thought was get a library card. But that looks kind of old-fashioned, writing it. 

Maybe iTunes-U?

[marigolds]

Sounds like journalism or non-fiction writing to me.

That's just because it's so well-written. I think it's lovely.

OP, iTunes U sounds like a good place to start, or perhaps the Open University?  And maybe start a book discussion group to get the interactive piece that you'd be missing from F2F classroom experiences.

Good luck.

[zharkov]

If one's goal was to be mentored in "generalist" learning, there are quite a few master's and doctor programs that you might find to meet your needs.  Some of these are specifically designed for adult or non-traditional learners. They go by various names -- self-designed programs, liberal arts, great books, interdisciplinary, XYZ studies, and so on.  Do some detective work and you'll probably find some in your part of the country.

[edmonddantes]

As pigou suggested above, it's been my experience in grad. school that as you specialize you incorporate more and more from other fields--as unintuitive as it may sound.

I am in the social sciences--so take this with a grain of salt.  In one day, I can easily incorporate the history of the country in which sub-saharan basket weavers weave; the social make-up and dynamics of a specific group of basket weavers (anthropology); transnational links between this group of sub-saharan basket weavers and basket weavers in the North (sociology), the political space in which this group makes demands on the state; and statistics to analyze the level of resources the group receives from the state.  And the whole time I am thinking "gosh, I wish I knew more about economics so that I could understand the role their baskets play in the international market." 

I was drawn to my grad. program in part because it allows me to take several classes in related fields (and I am not in a nominally interdisciplinary field).

[conjugate]

Both my current and my previous institution allow me to take a course for my own interests as one of my employee benefits.  Some schools let (even encourage) faculty to broaden their horizons. 

However, I don't know what to tell you about the situation that you find yourself in.  Best wishes.

[juillet]

That's a good point; especially with a degree in mathematics, OP, you may want to attach yourself to a university in some employed capacity with a wide range of courses and then use your employee benefits to take a free course or two every semester.