Unlocking Your Goals the Unconventional Way

Can you get a PhD without going to school? The short answer is yes. In fact, you can achieve many things through non-traditional paths. For instance, it's possible in some places to become a lawyer without graduating from law school. I'm not sharing this to encourage "hacking the system," but rather to highlight that there are often more avenues to achieve our goals than we initially believe.

Let's rewind a year and a half. I was faced with a significant challenge: to develop a unified theory of consciousness. I wasn't sure how or why, but I knew it would require a deep dive into research. My background is in neuropsychology, and I have some experience working in a lab, but it's been a while. The conventional path would be to enroll in a PhD program.

However, the reality is, I didn't want to put my life on hold to go back to school. I've also read about the high rates of depression among PhD students, and that's not an environment I want to be a part of. This led me to ask a crucial question: "How can I make progress on my dream without formally going back to school?"

As I explored this, I realized something fundamental: I don't actually want a PhD degree. If someone were to award me one for my work, I would certainly accept it. But my motivation for returning to school wouldn't be for the diploma; it would be for the knowledge. There's a significant difference between learning for the sake of a degree and learning for the sake of understanding.

Once I understood that my true desire was the learning itself, I felt liberated. I didn't need to spend a vast amount of money or upend my life. The new question became, "How can I create a structured plan to learn and conduct research independently?"

Over the past few months, I've been working with AI to build a structured plan that mirrors a PhD program, complete with a thesis outline for a unified theory of consciousness. I've built my own roadmap, my personal guide to this intellectual journey. Who knows if it will lead to an honorary PhD? It's been known to happen; some universities will award doctorates to individuals who publish a significant amount of well-respected research.

But more importantly, I'm genuinely excited to have a structured plan to embark on this journey.

I'm sharing this story to illustrate that there are many paths to our goals. I'm thrilled to be taking this unconventional route because it unlocks new opportunities. The key is to hold onto your vision, maintain your focus, and allow the path to unfold, even if it's not the one everyone else is taking.