Versatility is the quality of doing different things. Someone is said to be a versatile person when they have very different interests and abilities.
Educated people are those who know about a wide variety of subjects: art, science, sport ... Being interested in unrelated knowledge and outside of our profession reveals versatility. And this implies that the versatile person has an open character and with intellectual curiosity in various spheres. Sometimes, versatility is used as a trait that is not exactly positive, since it is used as a synonym for dispersion and something typical of someone who is not able to focus on something.
Therefore, it is appreciated that the term versatility can have two meanings (one positive and one negative) depending on the context.
In the positive sense, versatility implies a plurality of interests, initiative, curiosity, vitalism, in short, and is understood as a valuable characteristic.
In the negative sense, versatility is considered an ambivalent attitude, impractical, typical of amateurs or fickle people. There are even sayings about it: apprentice of everything, master of nothing. There is a derogatory sense of variety.
Both interpretations can be valid, depending on the reasons that are argued. An example can serve to clarify the debate. A doctor likes medicine in general, being interested in all branches equally. This attitude is positive, insofar as all knowledge is useful and, at the same time, it is negative insofar as it is almost impossible to specialize in one branch of medicine if the interest is towards all of them. Continuing with a similar example, if a doctor specializes in retinal pathologies and has very diverse hobbies in his personal life, we would be talking about someone versatile and who is specialized at the same time.
In the history of mankind there are some illustrious examples of versatility (in this case in a positive sense). The figure of Leonardo da Vinci stands out, a Renaissance artist who painted, sculpted, wrote and invented, all with great skill. His case is paradigmatic and it could almost be said that he is an exception, since deep knowledge in different activities is rare.
