# Super polymath feasibility: Is it possible to have the highest intellectual ability in every area?

Could a single individual have the abilities of Gauss in mathematics, play soccer like Messi, write like Dostoyevsky, play chess like Carlsen, have ideas in physics comparable to those of Einstein, have the talent of Mozart in music, and so on for every area?

Since this have never happened, maybe there are limitations to how talented a person can be, or time limitations for a single individual to develop all of them. What does neuroscience have to say about it?

Note: I got this question from Sigma Society (in Portuguese). I've found nothing more about it, maybe because it's too speculative.

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I'm inclined to see it as more a matter of statistics. Since you're asking a question of rank, the possibility depends on the population. For an extreme example, if you were the last man on earth, you'd be your own super polymath by default! Given a population of $N>7\rm B$, competition is of course much fiercer. Since the chance of being #1 in any skill is infinitesimal to begin with, the chance of being #1 in multiple skills is several times more infinitesimal. Granted, these are not independent probabilities; there is evidence of a general factor of intelligence.