Is there even a point in engaging in intellectual pursuits if you're not brilliant...

Is there even a point in engaging in intellectual pursuits if you're not brilliant? A man with short legs isn't encouraged to seek a career in professional basketball, so why should an ordinary intellect such as myself bother with arts and sciences?

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The comparison to profesional basketball is invalid; intellectual pursuits are not a competition, they are a way of engaging the world, learning about it and shaping your mind.

The man with short legs won't be encouraged to become a professional basketball player, but he can always play basketball casually, for health and fun.
Also you can't measure your mind like you'd measure legs.

I dont know. When I asked this philosophers then I was met it is impossible to contribute unless you are genious or went through academia. The same in sciencies. What is the point then if the competition is so high. You can only read and think for yourself and be sure of that you will never write or say anything of worth. It is the same as playing video games then, just for yourself.

Not remotely true in the sciences. There's a shit load of legwork that needs to be done to get results. Without which no genius can produce anything.

I agree with you. The point what I was trying to make is that legwork is not something particulary insightful. It is just a grunt work. Besides to be even allowed to do the legwork one must study a lot and go through the academia. It is all gated. If you are not smart enough or not in a situation that would allow you to get into academia you wont be even doing the legwork. What then? Is there any point in engaging in intellectual pursuits as OP stated?

what defines intellect though ? what are your parameters ?

I got kicked out of high school. Then got highest grades in college, admitted to an elite law school, got amazing grades at law school, then dropped out of law school w/mental illness

I'm not sure if im of high intellect or stupid. who decides ?

Do we have to go into a definitive descriptions for OPs argument? He is asking if there is any worth in doing those pursuits if you are not brilliant and wont advance arts and sciences or get career in them.

Not counting legitimate retardation, being "less intelligent" generally means you simply take more time to learn new concepts and to put your thoughts into words, and in most "intellectual" mediums this isn't an issue as you're not in a direct, time-limited competition with people who may be more quick-witted than you.

Edison was not a brilliant man, but he was persistent.

Yeah, there's like a minimum required intelligence level to even be able to do the legwork. But isn't that true for anything ever?
Plenty of (relatively) short people doing well in the NBA. Of course you can't be a midget, but you also don't have to be Yao Ming.

If you're not mentally challenged and enjoy it, then I think there's a point.

Who cares if you really want something you will do whatever you can to learn. You may have a harder time than others but it's all about determination.

In point of fact, no.

No man is as 'brilliant' as you take them to be. With enough time and effort, you can compete with the best of them, OP. I remember feeling like a barely conscious animal before I started studying philosophy in high school, and now I am excelling in graduate level philosophy courses. Don't give up!

Who cares if you really want something you will do whatever you can to learn. You may have a harder time than others but it's all about determination.

Having seen some philosophy students, I'd say a good chunk of them is still barely conscious...

Then OP shouldn't feel intimidated. It's not like we're much to compete with!

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>Is there even a point in engaging in intellectual pursuits if you're not brilliant?
Yes. In fact it's even more essential, if you're to achieve a rounded character and a fuller experience of life.

Intellectuals need to cultivate non-intellectual interests for similar reasons, although most of them are too lazy, and prefere to become spergs.

Stop putting spaces before the question mark. What the fuck is wrong with you?

Now, now, no need to be so rude! This is now a positive thread!

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I hope you are being ironic.

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>anime post
To be precise, it's an HIV-positive thread.

So negative. Why not lighten up, fren?

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Would you?

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Very, very probably.

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But it is not Yea Forums approved!

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I suppose I'll just have to carry that shame with me for the rest of my life...

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If you're above 115 iq you have the mental capability to learn anything. Most is a grind, i've seen a lot of people referencing academia as something that is needed. It isn't if you can prove you have the knowledge. Build something yourself, academia is mostly slower than just learing it at home.

I don't know if I am stronk enough.

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Well everybody has to do something and if you're not really good at anything that just means everything is up for grabs
No you'll never be as smart as Archimedes or Da Vinci or whoever but neither will most people and all of those people have to come to terms with that just as you will

>Tyrone Curtis "Muggsy" Bogues (born January 9, 1965) is an American retired basketball player. The shortest player ever to play in the National Basketball Association, the 5 ft 3 in (1.60 m) Bogues played point guard for four teams during his 14-season career in the NBA.

unlike legs, the mind is capable of growth. If you're average or even slightly above average IQ, then there is hope enough to become literate in any pursuit. If you don't feel comfortable become widely knowledgeable, pick a discipline. Persistence can be as valuable as genius if used properly

Anime is the path to enlightenment.

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It was an anime thread the whole time

Do you think Dan Brown is brilliant?

This is an anime board anyway.

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Me, me, me. How about doing something for someone else for a change? The intellectual pursuits benefit countless, but I guess that's not as important as your ego.

You may be stupid, but you're a human being just like everyone else. People on this board like to competitively shit on each other's reading habits, but there is no shame in going slowly, in reading "easy" texts that are meaningful to you, or listening to audiobooks. The only shame is in abandoning the desire to grow.

Literature is for you, too.

The issue isn't that the growth of the mind isn't infinite, it's that it's not even significant. Everyone likes to talk about improvement, but how measurable is it truthfully? Not very, if most studies are to be trusted. Humanity is upwardly stagnant on an individual level, because there is no way to reliably modify ourselves in such a great manner. To think that reading, doing maths, puzzles, riddles, mind games, what you want to come up with will improve your brain, will help you grow, that is just fantasy. It's simply not reality.

No. There is no point if you are stupid, because you will end up misinterpreting something and actually become more dumb, or ruin your life by swearing to an idea you couldn't find fault in.

>Is there even a point in engaging in intellectual pursuits if you're not brilliant?
The main reason for anyone to follow the intellectual path is to be just. To be just requires knowledge of the truth, of reality, of our world. Thus, you must understand this world, you must perceive this reality, you must find this truth.
It's not a competition, so you don't need to be the best - you just need to follow that path and try to get as far as you can. Hopefully, one day, you will reach further than anyone else, and open a small, yet important, path for others to follow and reach even further.

Who is the ultimate judge of interpretation? Not to mean things can't have concise meaning, but by your argument the entirety of humanity is becoming dumber in the eyes of a much more intelligent alien species, yet that doesn't mean that on the whole we're not actually growing more knowledgable by interpreting and misinterpreting.

a short legged person has a body and should love cherish and develop it for their quality of life and as a decent democratic citizen

I think OP is more worried about leaving a trace on this God forsaken earth through intellectual pursuit than the pursuit itself.

I think the basketball analogy works for math and science. You can spend hours on a problem, people with 160 IQ just glanced over and solved instantly in high school. Arts I think is different, though, everyone enters with a different perspective and there are limited rules and no objective.

Is there a point in exercising if one is not an athlete?
Is there a point to eating more healthy if one is not naturally pre-disposed to good health?
Of course you should pursue intellectual things, it is part of a full life not just a means to wealth.

You're talking outcomes. Most outcomes, any field, are miserable, period, and of course you'll die too.

I read a study where they had 97% of people saying they were constantly plagued by negative thoughts. It seems as if humans will adjust no matter their circumstance or ability to make themselves miserable.

Victory is in escaping the desire for specific outcomes of life.

When you say you want high ability like intelligence you are also implying that this will necessarily lead to high contributions which has never been the case.

Not only that, even if you contribute highly that doesn't mean you'll be sated with your own work.

And even if you have both satisfaction with your work and high ability, a retard with a box of twinkies getting his daily handjob from his attendant can feel the same pleasure as you.

There is no point in comparison. If you are on your side, then you will act to broaden your understanding of the world so that you may act as you will in it.

There is nothing waiting for once you win, there is nothing waiting for you once you lose. There will always be pursuit, and even to those who achieved everything, they will return ceaselessly to pursuit.

Look at Bill Gates, the guy has a fucking escape sub in his house, billions, and he still travels around the world solving problems because that gives him satisfaction. He's buying pursuit with effort, and anyone can do that, and anyone can shit on Bill Gates for the rest of humanity no matter how many people he saves.

Outcome doesn't matter. Outcome never mattered. Ability doesn't matter. Ability never mattered. What we have, and all we are capable of having, is occupation.

The point is that it's good for you and it's fun sometimes. Same as sports - you do it to take care of your body and to have fun.

> Build something yourself, academia is mostly slower than just learing it at home.

Why? I'm having a hard time imagining a how a comprehensive self-made course could be constructed without prior knowledge of the material. Interested in hearing your views.

I don't think so and this board is the proof. It's absolutely chock full of average to slightly above average people who vastly overestimate their abilities in literature or philosophy. This leads them to become arrogant and self-important.
Posters here say it's like exercise. I will argue it isn't. When you physically exercise you have more or less objective goals - score more points, do more miles etc. But there is no clear yardstick for most intellectual pursuits. Therefore self-taught people like the ones on this site tend to Dunning-Kruger themselves into believing they are so much more educated and able in these fields than they actually are. In the end they massively wasted their time.

You don't become a genius, but you can gain tangible skills and familiarity with bodies of knowledge which will improve your life. Maybe you are talking about literature or philosophy, but there are shorter sticks to measure yourself by than the titans of some field of research.

It works as an analogy for a high-level career, but all able-bodied people can benefit from exercise, and all able-minded people can benefit from rigorous mathematical reasoning.

would they have wasted their time if they had a more realistic picture of their position in things?

Not to the same extent. They would have persisted with their efforts due to the knowledge of how far they have to go. The problem is you only need to read a couple of classic books and you're already more well-read than 95% of the population and that makes it quite easy to believe you're a rung below a college professor or something. I think a vast number of posters on Yea Forums (and /sci/) fell into that trap