Open up any US History textbook and go to a biography of Thomas Jefferson. 9 times out of 10, it will describe this founding father as a "renaissance man," or someone who studied, experienced, and did all kinds of things that the world had to offer. He was a politician, philosopher, inventor, artist, musician, and, like Tony Stark (Iron Man), a billionaire-playboy-philanthropist. To many people, especially today's students, a large group of whom are trying to choose a major, studying and doing everything sounds amazing. We wonder, "Why do I have to pick just one or two majors when there's so much out there? Why can't I major in meteorology, theater, math, communications, philosophy, physics, geography, chemistry, music, engineering, psychology, and film, and deja vu, and political science, and deja vu, and economics and and and..?".

The first problem is that we are comparing ourselves to a mostly unachievable ideal: The Renaissance Man, who today would be compared to Dos Equis' "Most Interesting Man in the World." Hardly anybody has the resources to delve so deeply into so many paths in life, as T-Jeff or the Most Interesting Man did. Most of us are neither Virginian aristocrats from the American Revolution nor promotional characters in advertising.

The second problem is called the specification of labor. Since Jefferson's time, the Industrial Revolution, followed by the rise of service jobs and office jobs in the post-modern economy, people's jobs have gotten more and more specific, as people rely more on each other and less on self-sufficiency. Because there are more types of jobs needed in the economy, there are more specific jobs, for which people get more specific training. My major, meteorology, was not even researched effectively until a century ago, because we did not have the technology. With technology evolving, and the economy becoming ever more global, jobs get more and more specific.

With studies becoming more specific, there is more knowledge in the world, raising broad questions in diverse fields. We can't do everything because we can't know everything. However, people should not feel so limited, because even though one cannot know everything, one can know a little bit about a lot of things, and a lot about a few select subjects. It makes people more well-rounded, and can teach students things they may never have heard otherwise. For instance, are you a civil engineering major? You might find Aristotle or the American Civil War interesting, too. If anything, knowing a little about everything can help you converse with all kinds of people.

We may not be able to know everything about every topic, but we can still know a little about a lot. Those gen-ed requirements may seem annoying, but there's a purpose behind them. However, there is more than simply the classroom and books. A lot comes from conversations with interesting people, as there is plenty to learn inside a book or a classroom, but even more outside of it.The idea of a renaissance man (or woman, thanks to centuries of social progress and increased equality) is limited to the renaissance, when they knew a lot less than they did today. We can't know or do everything because there's so much more human knowledge today, then, there ever was before. We shouldn't be sad about this limit, but instead be happy about our progress as humanity.The quest for omniscience is an impossible yet fruitful one. We can never know everything, but we can learn as much as possible while living a great life with many different friends and enjoying fantastic conversations. That's how you become the most interesting man in the world. Stay learning, my friends.