Templates accepting “anything” in C++

Question

I have a simple template struct associating a string with a value

template struct Field
{
    std::string name; T self;
}

Answer 1

This is not very idiomatic for C++. It can be done, perhaps; Coplien's book might have some ideas. But C++ is strongly typed because it believes in typing; trying to turn it into Smalltalk or fold it like a pheasant may lead to tears.