Great piece Bryan, I can relate to much of what you describe here, although my professional philosophical activities never reached the level of complexity of your own. I worked on my research beyond completing my PhD for a bit before moving on to other things.
I liked how you pointed out the personal nature of progress when working on a project and how this can often feel chaotic, leading to the loss of direction. I have noticed that when I have felt this way is also when I enjoyed research the most. I would think to myself "if I am feeling this way, then philosophy must really matter because it is bringing genuine problems and puzzles into the light"
Even in the midst of what feels like chaos, we definitely know that we are learning something, even if the "somethings" are hard to put into "S knows that P" form.
Great piece Bryan, I can relate to much of what you describe here, although my professional philosophical activities never reached the level of complexity of your own. I worked on my research beyond completing my PhD for a bit before moving on to other things.
I liked how you pointed out the personal nature of progress when working on a project and how this can often feel chaotic, leading to the loss of direction. I have noticed that when I have felt this way is also when I enjoyed research the most. I would think to myself "if I am feeling this way, then philosophy must really matter because it is bringing genuine problems and puzzles into the light"
Even in the midst of what feels like chaos, we definitely know that we are learning something, even if the "somethings" are hard to put into "S knows that P" form.