Great piece, and the first part especially reminds me of a term I came across in psychological literature a few years back. It's called the "multipotentiality" problem. (http://www.tip.duke.edu/node/784). Essentially, the problem is that those with the aptitude for, and interest in, a number of diverse disciplines -- typically, gifted individuals -- may suffer from an inability to choose one path over the others, or to stick with any given path long enough to truly master it. Additionally, they tend to suffer from an occasionally crippling form of regret over the paths they didn't take. (Da Vinci, one of history's most famous polymaths, is said to have remarked late in his life that "I've wasted my hours").

There is some debate about whether, and to what extent, multipotentiality is a legitimate psychological phenomenon. But I've sure grappled with it, or at least something that feels quite like it, for a large part of my life. I know plenty of others who have, as well. And your article really struck a chord w/r/t the topic.

[I'm not saying any of us is a Da Vinci, btw. Just pointing out that even someone who legitimately did master multiple disciplines suffered from "grass is greener" crises every now and then.]

I've heard this described as "too many aptitudes" - http://megasociety.org/noesis/138/aptitude.html - but multipotentiality has a nice sciency sounding ring to it.

A lot of this article seems to apply to INTJ personality types, I wonder what the overlap is?

Reminds me of the saying: "The grass is greener where you water it."

There's no point thinking what would have been if you only chosen this other path - If you really chose this other path, you are not you.