How to Think Like Leonardo DaVinci

As I was reading this book, I came across a quote of Kenneth Clark on DaVinci's notebooks: 

First there are questions about the construction of certain machines, then, under the influence of Archimedes, questions about the first principles of dynamics; finally, questions which had never been asked before about winds, clouds, the age of the earth, generation, the human heart.

It seems like all the things I wonder about have already been speculated, already been researched, and already yielded highly specialized professions that employ highly educated people. The thing about DaVinci was that he lived in a time when scientific research, any type of forward-thinking research, was not on the forefront of most people's minds. Knowledge was his for the taking.

But what was he searching for anyway? All that curiosity he had, he loved to learn. But he had to see that even if he did manage to learn everything, to fulfill his dream of "unifying all knowledge," he would still be alone in that knowledge. He would be the only one who knew everything. And if it took him his whole life to learn these things, he would be alone with that knowledge for quite some time before anyone else came along with an adequate amount of brains to be at his same level.

He had to see that. Maybe towards the end, he did. This book says that towards the end of his life, he began asking about Christianity and Catholicism. Maybe when he realized that his research, which was so past his own time, only led to more questions- maybe that was when he realized knowledge and understanding isn't enough. That there may have been more to this life than a thirst for knowledge, an insatiable curiosity. He was looking for purpose, for an understanding of life that he had not found, and it's tragic that he only realized this at an old, frail age.

Lenoardo DaVinci, quite possible the most intelligent man to ever live, felt a sense of purposelessness when looking back through his life. Was it because he chose knowledge over relationships? Was it because he dedicated his whole life to learning instead of loving? You've heard it said that knowledge is power. That may very well be. But power isn't everything. I feel like it all comes down to love, to us poor broken humans desperately trying to scratch the itch of a relationship in discord.

Just one more example of how it's all about love...