Since the beginning of this year, in preparation for a philosophy course through Oxford University’s Continuing Education Program I will be taking this fall, I’ve been reading the textbook Philosophy of Mind.
As a physician and writer, why am I spending the time and effort to take this course?
Well, in my case, apart from a general love of philosophy, I find that this course cognitively stretches me—a nice way of saying that it’s intellectually out of my reach, at least for now.
This isn’t a feeling I have had for some time. In fact, the last time I took a course in which I believe I fell short intellectually was around 30 years ago. I was taking a Ph.D. level Physics course on the Mathematics of Quantum Optics—an eye-opening experience in which I learned that sometimes hard work, patience, great teachers, resources, and a burning desire to learn a subject sometimes isn’t enough. Sometimes, and certainly in Mathematics and Physics, to attain a certain level in a subject requires a gift, one which no amount of hard work will replace. There are some intellectual boundaries that most people can’t cross.
And that’s Ok because I think the key to growth—intellectual, physical, emotional, and spiritual—is to strive to find your boundary.