I’ve been researching Greek mythology for the past few years as an amateur. It’s been a lot of fun and rewarding for me. There are a few things, which make the research in my leisure time tough though.
1. Society is set up so that I have to prioritize making money in my limited free time. Fortunately this pressure has lessened since I got a well paying job, but it held back my free time for years.
2. Because of the first constraint, I don’t have the time to dive into mastery. I’m reading works at a much slower rate since I have to work everyday. I’ve also found the time over the past few years to study Modern Greek, which I could have spent studying Ancient Greek I suppose. However, I don’t have the time to study both and Modern Greek has been my priority for reasons outside of my research.
3. I owe a great deal of my research to people with PhDs/DPhils on the topic. However, I also can’t contribute much to the field because they deliver their incredible work full time. I’m far less likely to make significant contributions when they have already spent years studying Ancient Greek and then every day performing acts such as translating great works.
All that said, I’m satisfied not competing with the experts. I just recognize that this is purely a hobby that I perform for fun when I have the time, which isn’t as often as I need in order to be a more useful researcher.
1. Society is set up so that I have to prioritize making money in my limited free time. Fortunately this pressure has lessened since I got a well paying job, but it held back my free time for years.
2. Because of the first constraint, I don’t have the time to dive into mastery. I’m reading works at a much slower rate since I have to work everyday. I’ve also found the time over the past few years to study Modern Greek, which I could have spent studying Ancient Greek I suppose. However, I don’t have the time to study both and Modern Greek has been my priority for reasons outside of my research.
3. I owe a great deal of my research to people with PhDs/DPhils on the topic. However, I also can’t contribute much to the field because they deliver their incredible work full time. I’m far less likely to make significant contributions when they have already spent years studying Ancient Greek and then every day performing acts such as translating great works.
All that said, I’m satisfied not competing with the experts. I just recognize that this is purely a hobby that I perform for fun when I have the time, which isn’t as often as I need in order to be a more useful researcher.