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[INTJ] INTJ and Academia

Valis

New member
Joined
Nov 1, 2011
Messages
98
MBTI Type
INTJ
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5w6
The following line was posted in the Faux INTJ thread:

"INTJs would never ever peruse academics for its own sake."

This has made me think about my own relationship with academia. I have a love hate relationship with it.

Part of me enjoys learning, discussing theories and the status that qualifications bestow. Another part of me knows that this is a cynical exercise, that this is effort that should be used for problems in the real world.

Gaining qualifications has certainly helped me with my career. But they knowledge shouldn't be obtained for its own sake. This is one of the reasons I'm reluctant to begin a PhD as I don't believe it will have any positive effect on my career and will merely be used to inflate my ego.

Does anyone else feel like this?
 

Valis

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Nov 1, 2011
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INTJ
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5w6
Thanks for the advice. Although I have excelled (to a certain extent) in academia, it has always been a process of jumping through hoops. This has left me feeling rather empty. I do have a few ideas for research but I think you're right, I need to think this through and weigh up the cost / benefit (seven years is a long time). Also, whether I really think I do have something to offer that's new and will make a genuine contribution to our understanding of the world. Probably not :)
 

FunnyDigestion

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Mar 18, 2011
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Whenever I meet someone in phD school, unless they're sincerely hoping to be a high-level expert / researcher in that field I assume they're only doing it because they don't know what they want career-wise yet. I assume they're in a "what else would I do?" situation.
 

entropie

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Whats so bad about inflating ones ego ? :D
 
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