Scanners
Minds that can be described as scanners generally like the process of exploration of new things. They like to explore everything. They try out many different careers and interests, and they “refuse to choose” . They have a breadth of knowledge and not necessarily much depth in any one area.
Scanners seek constantly. According to Barbara Sher, “To Scanners the world is like a big candy store full of fascinating opportunities, and all they want is to reach out and stuff their pockets. It sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? “
She also says, “The problem is, scanners are starving in the candy store. They believe they’re allowed to pursue only one path. But they want them all. If they force themselves to make a choice, they are forever discontented. But usually Scanners don’t choose anything at all. And they don’t feel good about it.” Read more here
A scanners brain has a preference to use its “seeking circuitry” in a higher proportion than using other circuits. “Researchers have found that the seeking circuitry is what enables us to want and seek anything that involves effortful activity, whether conscious and deliberate effort, or automatic and habitual effort based on learning.” (see Key Brain Circuitries)
When I was 15 I spent a month working on an archeological dig. I was talking to one of the archeologists one day during our lunch break and he asked those kinds of “getting to know you” questions you ask young people: Do you play sports? What’s your favorite subject? And I told him, no I don’t play any sports. I do theater, I’m in choir, I play the violin and piano, I used to take art classes. And he went WOW. That’s amazing! And I said, “Oh no, but I’m not any good at ANY of them.”
And he said something then that I will never forget and which absolutely blew my mind because no one had ever said anything like it to me before: “I don’t think being good at things is the point of doing them. I think you’ve got all these wonderful experiences with different skills, and that all teaches you things and makes you an interesting person, no matter how well you do them.” And that honestly changed my life. Because I went from a failure, someone who hadn’t been talented enough at anything to excel, to someone who did things because I enjoyed them. I had been raised in such an achievement-oriented environment, so inundated with the myth of Talent, that I thought it was only worth doing things if you could “Win” at them. — Kurt Vonnegut
There is a lot of hope for scanners. Many scanners are completely functional and self-sufficient and don’t worry that they don’t have a single interest - in fact they thrive on it! Patterns of thriving include:
A scanner may have a single profession that they are good at and enables them to make a good amount of money to live. Along with that, they may continue to pursue many interests “on the side” that change over time.
A scanner may not have a single profession, they may pursue multiple interests simultaneously. The challenge with this strategy is only that ‘time is not infinite’
Here’s a quote from a self-aware scanner with some knowledge of a lot of topics and activities.
“BTW, before you trot out that "polymath" word, I've come to the conclusion that I am a "polycalc" -- aka, Jack of All Trades/Master of None, i.e., into just about everything, but never with enough depth to master (save, thankfully, for my profession, on which I rely for my pay check!).” - R. B.
This scanner figured out on his own how to succeed in life - anchored by a single profession while still maintaining interest in everything in the candy store! For alternate strategies about how to survive our specialized world as a scanner by limiting concurrent interests, look at https://www.renaissancesouls.com/ .
The following quote describes the difference between a polymath and a scanner from a prolific scanners’ perspective.
"People often ask me, do you intimidate people with your knowledge," says Monkman. "But the opposite is the case. I have wide knowledge but no deep expertise. I am intimidated by experts." Seagull, like Monkman, feels an intense pressure to specialise. They regard themselves as Jacks-of-all-Trades, without being master of one. "When I was young what I really wanted to do was know a lot about a lot," says Monkman. "Now I feel that if I want to make a novel contribution to society, I need to know a great deal about one tiny thing." — Monkman
