In a world that tries to put you in a box, the concept of being a multidisciplinary thinker is important.
What Is a Multidisciplinary Thinker?
Multidisciplinary thinkers challenge the idea that you should stick to one role or area of STEAM throughout your life. They understand that people don’t have only one interest. Instead, they see that we’re a tapestry of all the different influences, things and spaces we enjoy.
Consider Jessica Montgomery for example. She began her career in journalism and worked predominantly in fashion. Now she has completed her Master’s Degree in Digital Culture and Society, specializing in artificial intelligence. She has worked in the tech sector but is also an exhibiting artist at the Science Gallery London. She currently has an installation known as O-Horizon. O-Horizon uses artistic practices to explore the ways we view Artificial Intelligence. Jessica is a good example that from the outside our journeys don’t always seem straightforward but that different passions (like culture, art and technology) can connect in different ways.
How Does Being a Multidisciplinary Thinker Benefit My Personal Life?
Bringing all your interests into your work means you’ll feel happier and more passionate about what you do. This is because you can bring your whole self into the spaces you occupy. This is much healthier than having to hide or downplay some of your passions or interests.
Thinking this way also fuels your creativity and innovation. Because you can think across disciplines, you can see a wide range of possible opportunities. This makes you better at thinking up new ideas and developing solutions.
Being able to enjoy and develop skills in different areas makes you adaptable. Adaptability is a crucial skill, as life will always throw unexpected changes at you. How you react to these changes and use them to grow is a skill.
What Are the Professional Benefits of Being a Multidisciplinary Thinker?
Being a multidisciplinary thinker in professional spaces is useful, too. Because of your knowledge in many different fields, you’re able to connect with a wider range of people. This can open you up to more job opportunities and avenues for growth.
We’re in a time full of technological advancements, and these advancements wouldn’t be possible without the convergence of different fields. Because AI impacts each of our lives, a wide range of voices must go into creating it. Even if you haven’t found yourself in STEM fields, don’t have a tech background, or feel more artistic, your place in AI is important. It will help to shape the future by creating tech that caters to everyone’s needs.
Without working across different disciplines, many groundbreaking discoveries and innovations wouldn’t have happened. After all, most of the problems worth solving aren’t simple to begin with. It takes a complicated and wide-spread knowledge to solve complicated and wide-spread problems!
To conclude, being a multidisciplinary thinker is not only a personal choice, but a smart one. In the ever-changing life we live, being able to break free from a single identity future-proofs us. When different spaces converge, the people in them will be the architects of our future. It is up to them to shape a world where innovation knows no bounds.
