/lit/ - Literature

[Is it all over for me already? No.20787567]

I went to your average shitty American public schools for 13 years. Spent most of elementary school reading in the back of the class. Our 9th grade Shakespeare unit was reading a couple scenes and watching the movie. There was never any intellectual stimulation whatsoever. I'm going to college soon and want to be a philosopher. But if you look at the bios of great philosophers and authors they all had a great education as a child - Nietzsche went to a medieval school that's still famous today, Nabokov was trilingual, Arendt's mother made her read the complete works of Goethe, many French philosophers had famous philosophers as their own high school teachers - and of course they all learned Latin and Greek. I was lucky to have a few years of French!
I'm going to college soon, and I want to be a philosopher, but I'm afraid I've missed out on a critical formative education and so I will never be so erudite. Yes it sounds incredibly gay but I think I've missed the boat.

[Anonymous No.20787596]

If you're about 18, you have no excuse not to "catch up". You could, in the course of a single year of dedication and focus, become reasonably competent in a second language, read at least a couple dozen of the great classics you've missed out on, and start on your philosophical education. Frankly it's possible to do much more than that.

What the hell are you doing comparing yourself to the great minds of history, anyway? These people are beyond exceptional, and they had the benefit of a more demanding early education to boot. That's not a reasonable standard to hold yourself to, but by all means please try to reach your intellectual potential. 18 is too early to give up on anything except wasting your time on vidya and 4chan.

[Is it all over for me already? No.20787619]

>>20787596
I have started on all those things! Still the need to be world-historical is irrepressible.

[Anonymous No.20787621]

>>20787567
>I want to be a philosopher
Don't do that

[Anonymous No.20787637]

>>20787619
Well then, fuckin do it. I guarantee you that Nietzsche didn't become an important figure based on he did in fucking high school.

[Anonymous No.20787649]

another quality thread for the board /lit/ - literature

[Is it all over for me already? No.20787683]

>>20787649
This is 4chan

[Anonymous No.20787720]

>>20787567
I respect your life's mission of producing philosophy but get used to working a side job now.

[Anonymous No.20787755]

Philosophy is a hobby now. Should you dedicate your education, or God forbid your career to philosophy you will be making a huge mistake. You are living in the ruins of a great culture, and that culture is not coming back. I know this will be hard for you to accept but for your own sake you must accept it.

[Anonymous No.20788079]

>>20787567
This post really brought me back. I remember we had a lad like you in our primary school too. The teachers used to let him sit in the back of the class and amuse himself while the normal children actually learned things. This mostly involved carving his desk with a knife and making vague threats to the other students. On a number of occasions he was kicked out of class for masturbating at the teachers. Although never at the female teachers strangely enough. I always wondered how his life turned out after he eventually expelled. I suppose he probably became a 4chan philosopher as well.

[Anonymous No.20789032]

You thought school was about education?
Just how naive are you?
American "education" is about indoctrinating kids to become good little robots that don't challenge the Establishment.
If you want education, you have to do it yourself.

[Anonymous No.20789106]

Just be you, guy.
I don't mean don't try to improve or learn things, but if you think overly much about your station in life, something that you have little control of, you'll lose your ability to do much about it.

Besides, I think you'll be truly amazed by what you're capable of, if you're pragmatic about it. Don't worry about being a stuffy academic type. Don't even really worry about being a good person, not yet. Just fight like your life depends on it, because it does.

Also, if you "must" go to college, don't do it for something like that. Hell, art would probably be a preferable major. You can at least hone a craft that way. I saw this one book by a guy who had a PhD in fucking wood carving and the shit he showcased on the cover was insane. I don't think I'd ever seen drapery rendered in a carving before.
That guy could get paid pretty crazy amounts for commissions.

[Anonymous No.20789150]

I suggest emailing philosophers, and philosophy profs. They will prob asks you if that is really what you want to do.
Check out universities in the US and outside of the US. I would put my money on UK. Again Email Professors!
>>20787596 Has good advice.
When emailing profs, even Chomsky if you want or zizek don’t be discouraged if they don’t email you back.
Email them, asks your questions, and keep emailing them on your progress
Example

Good evening prof x

As I said in a previous email, I am going across country and I’m in Texas today. (Give small description of how you are feeling, things you see etc.). If I make it to Pensilvania, could I buy you a cup of coffee?

Keep emailing them unless they tell you to stop.

This worked for someone and that’s why I’m typing this for you.
Good luck anon.

[Anonymous No.20789678]

>>20787567
Yes. There are no great intellectuals anymore for just this reason. We are all playing catch up plus the all pervasive idiocracy pulls us down with it. Give it up. The best you can hope for now is to get out of the blast radius that is modern culture and maybe give your posterity a shot.

[Anonymous No.20789745]

>>20787755
Listen to this anon, op. I went to a small liberal arts school of about 1300 students. I was one of only 3 philosophy grads in my graduating class. Even the department chair who convinced me to take on philosophy as a double major advised me not to pursue graduate studies in philosophy. In a sense, he was condemning his own fate.

[Anonymous No.20789754]

>i need to be intellectually fed by others
you will never succeed in anything

[Anonymous No.20789799]

>>20789678
This is the intended outcome. It's there to create a society of mindless consoomers.