The Human Experience · Episode

Episode 177 – Waqās Ahmed – Human Potential Unlocked, Creative Genius Explained, The Polymath *repost*

A conversation with Waqās Ahmed

Bio: Waqās Ahmed is a world-authority on multi-disciplinary thinking. He is an author, artist, scientist, and journalist, among many other areas of expertise. Waqās is completing his post graduate studies in…

Published
June 13, 2022
Runtime
1:13:53
Portrait or artwork for Episode 177 – Waqās Ahmed – Human Potential Unlocked, Creative Genius Explained, The Polymath *repost*
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Bio:

Waqās Ahmed is a world-authority on multi-disciplinary thinking. He is an author, artist, scientist, and journalist, among many other areas of expertise.

Waqās is completing his post graduate studies in Neuroscience at Kings College London and has degrees in the History of International Relations and Economics. He is a qualified fitness professional and educator, and was appointed as Chair of the Commonwealth’s Global Citizenship Education Panel.

Waqās founded the DaVinci Network, a global movement that wants to achieve the many-sided potential of humans worldwide. He is the Artistic Director at The Khalili Collections, a diverse and important private art collection, and his own artwork has been commissioned and purchased by a variety of institutions around the world. His journalism work has seen him occupy the position of Global Correspondent at FIRST Magazine, one that saw him gain exclusive interviews with various prime ministers and presidents.

Waqās is author of The Polymath, a book in which he looks at polymaths, those people with multidimensional minds, those that reject specialisation in one area and pursue multiple objectives in different fields. He looks at the roles these people have played in history and why this approach to life could be important to us in the future.

VISUAL ART

Waqās is Artistic Director at The Khalili Collections – one of the most comprehensive and diverse private art collections in the world. His work includes partnering with the likes of Google and Wikipedia to democratize art through digital curation, visual optimization and cutting-edge technologies. He was also the curator and host of the 2019 Official Opening of the Leonardo da Vinci 500th Anniversary Celebrations at the National Gallery in London. As an artist, his own paintings have been commissioned and acquired by major institutions worldwide.

NEUROSCIENCE
Waqās is completing his postgraduate studies in Neuroscience at Kings College London, where he is investigating multidisciplinary approaches to the treatment of chronic pain. Another strand of his research focuses on cognitive flexibility, and his research interviews with world-leading brain scientists include Daniel Levitin, Ray Kurzweil, Noam Chomsky, Rand Spiro, Douglas Hofstadter and Iain McGilchrist. INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Born and raised in Britain, Waqās has since lived in several countries across Europe, Africa, the Middle East and South Asia. For five years he was a diplomatic journalist and publisher, namely as Global Correspondent at FIRST Magazine, where his exclusive interviews included the Presidents of Egypt, Sudan, Liberia, Sri Lanka and Guyana and the Prime Ministers of Ethiopia, Malta, Romania and Mauritius. He was also editor of the Official Reports for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meetings (2011-2015) and has advised numerous clients on international communications campaigns.
WORLD HISTORY
Waqās holds a Masters degree in the History of International Relations from the London School of Economics (LSE) and was previously a visiting lecturer in International History at the University of the West of England. His paper on the Post World War Two movement for a World Government was published in the Federalist Debate. He was editor of Holy Makkah (FIRST 2017) – the first holistic exploration of the sacred city in the English language – which received praise from UNESCO, the Commonwealth and the Vatican.
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ACCLAIM FOR THE BOOK:

Waqas has written a wonderful book that is a mix of history, philosophy, science, self-help and manifesto. We need more polymaths. We need more thinkers whose curiosity wanders across disciplines. This book is a good step in that direction.

-A.J. Jacobs, four-time bestselling author and Editor-at-large, Esquire

Masses of good stuff, and I don’t know anyone else who is saying it with any- thing like the range and thoughtfulness with which [Waqas is] saying it . . . with any luck, it will set the world on fire!

-Iain McGilchrist, author, The Master and his Emissary

This revolutionary book has filled one of the great voids in the history of knowledge . . . Waqas is fast emerging as a young Leonardo da Vinci’.

-Nasser D. Khalili, scholar and Founder, The Khalili Collections

Himself exceptionally well-read, well-travelled and multi-talented, [Waqas] is well placed to tackle the subject in a way that is not only vastly educational but also refreshingly inspirational.

-Edward de Bono, originator of ‘lateral thinking’ and bestselling author, Six Thinking Hats

I am too stunned to comment on this book . . . I am transformed and tran- scended; I will never be the same again.

-F. Story Musgrave, astronaut, NASA scientist and ‘World’s top ranked Renaissance Man’ (AskMen)

To Find Waqās Ahmed Visit the-polymath.com.

This episode will completely change the way you think about learning and human cognition.

 

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Transcript

A full transcript has been published for this conversation.

Click here for transcript

Ideas worth returning to

Quotes

Five substantial excerpts from the published transcript, lightly edited for clarity without changing their meaning.

  1. “The subject of the book had a multidimensional mind. He could see each concept, phenomenon, field, and individual as part of a larger system. Systems thinking has become popular in many fields and areas of life, but he may have been one of its earliest practitioners.”
    From the conversation
  2. “Everyone has the potential to be a polymath because every person is multifaceted. We have neurological, biological, psychological, emotional, intellectual, physical, and spiritual dimensions. If we enter the world with all of these dimensions and embark on the adventure called life, why should we confine ourselves to only one of them?”
    From the conversation
  3. “The book’s bold thesis is this: if we knew that polymaths had been among the most influential people in human history, would we encourage their development through our education systems and workplaces? Or would we continue organizing society around the extreme specialization that dominates the modern world?”
    From the conversation
  4. “He pursued watercolor painting as a hobby and became highly accomplished; critics praised his work. He continually pursued diverse interests across crafts, skills, and knowledge. His guiding principle was always diversity. History offers many such examples across cultures, including Akbar the Great in Mughal India and Suleiman the Magnificent in the Ottoman Empire.”
    From the conversation
  5. “We have evidence about the effects of psychedelic experience on the human mind, as well as many accounts from people who attribute creative breakthroughs in music, art, and science to those experiences. The number of such accounts among highly creative people becomes especially interesting when considered alongside the emerging scientific research.”
    From the conversation

About the guest

Waqās Ahmed

Waqās Ahmed is a world-authority on multi-disciplinary thinking. He is an author, artist, scientist, and journalist, among many other areas of expertise.

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