Dr. Boland?
Posted on October 3, 2007 - Filed Under College, Life-In-General, Philosophy |
As some friends of mine can recall, in sixth year I briefly harboured the ambition the of becoming a doctor. Reality eventually intruded on this pipe dream and I realised that, while I could probably obtain the necessary CAO points, I would in all likelihood hate being a doctor since my interpersonal skills are not great and I would not like spending my days dealing with sick people. In fact, the only aspect of being a doctor that really appealed to me was being a doctor, by which I mean that I was only drawn to the prestige associated with the job and the gravitas bolted to the prefix ‘Dr.’.
Another unwelcome intrusion by reality has recently forced me to consider the small matter of what I’m going to do for the rest of my life, since I have entered my final year of university as an undergrad. I have, for the most part, immensely enjoyed studying philosophy, and my fondness for political philosophy has grown quite strong. It has also dawned on me that there is little that my lecturers do that, given a master’s degree and PhD in a particular area of my choosing, I would not be capable of doing myself.
Therefore it seems perfectly conceivable that I could be become a Philosophy lecturer, despite my propensity for mumbling, general awkwardness and aversion to public speaking, if only because almost every other job I can think of would be much worse. Plus, I would also gain the title of ‘Doctor Boland’, without having to spend anytime with sick people, and I could continue my ride on the academic carousel for a few more years, thus further postponing real life. To paraphrase the great pseudo-doctor Stephen Colbert, great idea, or the greatest idea?
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8 Responses to “Dr. Boland?”
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So…. pretentious ambitions and poor social skills… You will make a fine philosophy lecturer my friend*.
* no need to point out that I also intend on essentially doing the same thing.
The AIDS infected victims of third world Africa called. They want to know when Dr. Boland is arriving with their meds.
its not a real doctor, so nobody cares.
sucks to be the boy who could
“probably obtain the necessary CAO points”.
Could probably be a great lecturer too.
A doctor of philosophy is just as much a doctor as a doctor of medicine. The only difference is that the problems I’ll be dealing with won’t be living (or just as likely dying) people with medical complaints, but philosophical issues that have the good grace to stay confined to book pages and civilised discussions, and won’t call me after work hours, save for from my opulent study, where I shall pore over the likes of Russell, Marx, Nietzsche, Plato, Hume, Kant, and so on, if I feel like it.
You forgot Poland.
Screw that. Just buy a title from some penniless aristocrat and call yourself Lord Boland.