People also seem to be different in how much they can or want to focus on a single thing or a small number of things, versus how much they want to jump around and study tons of stuff in a broad way.

I'm very much the second way. The pretentious word is "polymath" but for me it's just that my attention works that way. It does seem to have something to do with being somehow fundamentally restless.

I really don't want to be a graduate student because it seems terribly excruciating and I don't think I have the capacity, not because I'm stupid but because I'm restless. But I would love to hang out with graduate students, from different fields.

In a utopian world, I could get food and shelter by just being a guy who spends 12 hours a day reading about different things, re-explaining them, connecting them and introducing people to different ideas.

(Politically charged digression: I think a basic income would free up truly enormous potential for innovation, if the innate creativity and productivity of people were disconnected from the tedious demand for employment and funding. Talking critically about the economics of it before trying it seems ridiculous because the entire point, it seems to me, is that totally novel things would happen.)

  spends 12 hours a day reading about different things, re-explaining them, 
  connecting them and introducing people to different ideas

Well, Randall Munroe is living in your utopia. Perhaps,

  The Utopia is already here — it's just not very evenly distributed.

> The pretentious word is "polymath"

The less pretentious word is "jack of all trades".

The problem is, "jack of all trades" is not just less pretentious, it is frowned upon. What is the middle ground?

A "generalist"? A very useful person to have especially in smaller firms - you don't need a specialist in nosql databases as a CIO but an IT generalist who knows when to hire a contractor, you don't need a specialist in Delaware tax dodges as a CFO but a financial accountant who's heard of all the tricks but might not know how to implement all of them...

'generalist' + leadership skills = manager

'generalist' without leadership skills = yes man

Like you I relate a lot with being a 'Jack of all trades', and what might have been a blessing if we had born some centuries ago, is nowadays a curse.

Reminds me of this XKCD: https://xkcd.com/863/

On a more serious note, it sounds like writing nonfiction is your dream job! (Or maybe teaching?)

:) Yep. When I turned in my CS master's thesis, my professor said I should seriously consider writing for a living (somehow). At the time, I took that to mean that my thesis wasn't very impressive, and it wasn't, but I really enjoyed writing the paper, researching the historical aspects and stuff.

I think this is really dependent on the activity. Sometimes I can really drill into something new, and other times I can't help but say "fuck it"

I picked up stick juggling a couple of years ago and have gotten quite good at it. People always say I must have some talent, but I was just as bad as anyone else when I first started. I've noticed two common behaviors when people do it

1. They try it a few times, get embarrassed / bored / discouraged, and give up 2. They try it a few times, and every time they drop it it almost adds fuel to the fire. They see it as a challenge they have to overcome