Most of us will probably say that we’re smart enough to be professional philosophers, knowledgeable, etc., but we’re too lazy, or we were just more interested in other topics. But is this true? We sit here philosophizing without any degree of “professionalism” to our names. What does that mean? What’s really the difference between us and professional philosophers?
In most cases, about six years’ worth of student loans …
…and withstanding the drudgery of marking massive mishmashes of undergraduate papers from students who take courses simply because they fit into their schedule… not a pleasant feat.
I think you have the temperament for it, Twiffy. I know I do not.
There are three parts, of course, to being a professional academic, which is what most professional philosophers are - the teaching, the publishing, and what I would like to call “campus politics” but which I will call collegiality instead.
I’m not cut out for any of it - I could manage the teaching.
As to the publishing, as I have never had an original philosophical idea of my own, I would be relegated to those dreary journal articles, most of which say nothing at all, or at most are glosses of major writers. Not my idea of a good time. I all but refused to footnote my papers in college (I mostly just made them up), but was considered a talented writer and encouraged to go to graduate school. I wrote like a shithead, but that was correctable. I still aced almost every one.
The collegiality is something else again. My uncle was a dean at the school I went to, and I was friendly with several profs, so I saw that aspect, some of it, firsthand. Not for me.
I found most of my fellow students a bunch of notetaking drones, more concerned with grades than with understanding. I wasn’t looking forward to teaching students like that. I think, just as students are lucky to get a handful of inspiring professors, professors are lucky to get a handful of good students. I also guessed that, lacking superior talent, an unwillingness to politick and almost any real discipline, I would wind up in some small private college in the Midwest, which is exactly what happened with my only classmate to turn pro. It would be something like Hell for me.
I have seen a lot of real garbage published in journals. I’m not sure how intelligent you have to be to be an academic. Certainly most college students graduate to be ordinary idiots.
I could/probably will some day. I’m 22 and read/research massive amounts of evolutionary, molecular genetics, cell biology, cns, cs etc etc.
Like if I don’t end up a researcher or professional academic carreer its a gun barrel in the mouth. Which sucks because my situation largely cripples my ability to get to my goals in good time. Its god damn maddening I have one potential carreer which is insanely out of reach.
I’m 22 with chronic arthritis in my face from the time I was like 17, no amount of painkillers seem to work, every night I sleep by the time I wake up it feels like i’ve ran an extended marathon during the night. I couldn’t even begin to rant about being accepted into university courses which I was never able to go.
I don’t know, its discourging shit.
Hey, good for you! I assume you got your undergrad degree already? Where from? And with those interests, would you go into bio, I assume?
Also, why is your potential career insanely out of reach?
Actually I didn’t. I don’t have any kind of degree. Just a small library written by those that do/critical thinking skills and a never ending interest in the subjects I mentioned. Which is beyond crazy because thats all I’ve really ever wanted.
I’m not saying i’ll fail just that I have so far.
I would probably study evolutionary cognitive neuroscience as it brings together a lot of my favorite fields/research techniques. In university I mean.
Or maybe study the neural correlations of pain. I find that sickly fascinating.
Well, if you actually want to get a graduate degree, it’s not that far out of reach. You can still go to undergrad (you’d go to grad school when you were 27 or so, which is actually fine). You’d also have a decent chance at getting into a good school if you got an Associate’s degree, or even just took a year’s worth of classes at a local college and got recommendations saying that you were ridiculously smart and motivated (which even if you aren’t, you should be able to fake if it’s just for a year, but it sounds like you probably are). Then rock the GRE and go from there.
I’m ridiculously motivated to educate myself but the amount of consistant pain i’m in impairs my ability to even do my own groceries. Thats my problem. I’m young but I was even younger at 17, so I’m unaware how long its going to take to find working* medication.
Broken bones or even being impaled through the arm hurts a lot less.
I was very nearly a professional historian for a while there - might still be an academic one day, we shall see. To be honest, though, what I discovered is something similar to Faust, that the whole merry-go-round sucks the life out of you somewhat. I was trying to build a life alongside it and struggling to balance the two things. It’s not just the dedication that makes you a professional intellectual, it’s the self-discipline, too.
Cyrene, what’s the cause of this pain?
Matty, I agree re: dedication + self-discipline. I’m going to be a math professor, but in the long-term I don’t know if I’ll sustain a more high-powered position at a good university, or decide that having a more cushy job at a liberal arts school is more in line with my lack of extreme motivation.
Temporomandibular joint disease. Arthritis and neuralgia. Sometimes the condyle displaces itself into the trigeminal ganglion and I get tgn like symptoms. Shocking like sensations. Even though tmj has diagnostic criteria it probably spans many disorders/diseases.
haplotype differences in COMT also seem to predispose people to myogenous tmj disorders. (though If I have myogenous tmj its on top of arthritis). Anyway my face is constantly swollen like I’ve been sucker punched in the face.
The science to understand/treat the problem is non existant outside of a medication regime to control pain. Other medical options have little clinical evidence and will likely make it worse, NIH, ADA, etc all warn against surgery etc on that basis.
Really though just getting by day to day, not falling down the stairs, forcing myself to eat through pain is a huge challenge, one I routinely fail outside of drugs. Figuring this shit out so I can move on with my life but its a constant jerk around between doctors.
The science isn’t there for the ama or ada to have a speciality in treatment. Meanwhile pain medications fail and in the meantime I lose like 80pounds in 6to7 months.
Figuring this shit out to move on with my life but i’m being jerked around by doctors who poorly understand the disease. One of my own doctor’s suffers endlessly with it.
barring a surprise like a brain tumor causing my symptoms theres no real treatment besides meds. Which don’t fix it. So I have no idea how i’m going to end up in a academic circle, but its the only thing which I desire. I have intelligence/education, years of life left and until I figure out how to cure a idiopathic disease i’m out of luck.
Though if nothing else my endless education/research on such a poorly understood disease may itself give me an oppertunity. Still.
Anyway its mind bending to me that i’m so young in this much agony. I couldn’t even explain it in words. Actually I can.
Anyway some lpers probably are academics. Doesn’t Xun work with lab settings?
That blows, Cy, sorry to hear it.
I usually delete posts relating to the subject as I don’t like bringing it up much. But yeah it sucks in relation to university.
Maybe ILPers could be professionals, but find a special worth in not becoming professionals?
Cyrene,
I can’t really tell you much about that condition. All I know about pain is what I have experienced myself. I find that all my pain is subjective, and can further be overcome by hard work and more pain. Maybe this is not true for you; maybe it can help you. I don’t know. Honestly, I find that merely-thinking pains me in some form. But, I do it regardless. It is something you get used to, not necessarily-numb against. But, I think I develop a relationship with it, somewhat like you would with a friend. Only, this friend is also an enemy. Keep your friends close, and keep your enemies closer…
Support academia? No…
Usually, when I don’t know something, I fall back on my ignorance. That helps keep me in the ill eye of people who actually do know they’re talking about. 
cyrene, your condition seems similar to what Charles Pierce suffered from throughout his life, though his case may not have been as severe. It seems that you are doing a great job of staying up to date with your fields of interest and expanding your knowledge through personal reading. It may be that getting a BA would even be somewhat of a waste of your time if your interests are already so defined. It’s not impossible to do research without a degree, there was a high school student, Eliezer Sternberg, who had a book published on mind and consciousness called Are You a Machine, it was sponsored by Andreas Teuber at Brandeis, where he is now a student. Also, Eugene Aserinsky, who discovered REM sleep phase, never got a degree between his high school diploma and his Phd. You might also what to try publishing papers as a freelance writer for magazines, I read about a recent graduate from FSU that published around 80 articles for various magazines while she was working toward her degree. You may also want to take some online courses or CLEP exams so that if you do eventually go after your BA you will be able to transfer in several credits, helping you get through your BA as quickly as possible and get on to graduate work. If you get to the point with your medications that you feel you are capable of continuing your education make sure you contact professors at various departments, send them examples of your work and explain your predicament, they will probably offer you some good advice and you may make some friends that will support you. Schools do make exceptions to general rules in exceptional cases.