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Careers for Intellectual Non-Conformists

Life is a Road said:
All of which brings me to say: foreign service officer!

Anyone with a high school diploma can take the Foreign Service exam.
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The foreign service appears to be extremely prejudiced against anyone who has taken mind altering substances for recreational purposes (other than alcohol). IIRC, I started to fill out the application for Foreign Service after I finished highschool. An entire section was devoted to asking what drugs you have tried, how many times, where you did it, etc. At the time, I had only smoked marijuana and that was 3 times, but I didn't feel comfortable applying for work with the kind of outfit that is so nosy.

One more thing __ the op wants an intellectual type job. By definition, an intellectual works one of two very narrow fields as either a book critic or a public commentator on current events, culture, and politics. Majoring in the humanities is required. Too bad there haven't been any job openings in this field for 30 years.
 
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arthunter888 said:
I live in the USA, and the main thing I notice is how all of our problems stem from American conditioning that builds and sustains the EGO (having to live up to an external reputation even if it doesn't match the internal personality), and I admire the ideals of hippies that one should explore life, participate in occasional ego-destroying activities (such as psychedelics, meditation, etc.), and live life to the fullest. I loathe the standard American model of working a 9-5 job that you hate, not questioning authority, having a wife and kids, etc (never truly, truly, LIVING).
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No offense, but you're young and your perspective will change. Fuck the hippies.. they found things that are universal and within us, bastardized themselves with drugs to the point of irrelevance, then went back into the system they despised so much and basically accelerated the damn thing into overdrive by then trying to sell those universal things back to us! All they really wanted was to get as high and sexually fucked as possible without having to do anything else.. which is basically the mindset of a teenager with no (apparent) obligations to the world or society.

What makes you think living doesn't involve a wife and family? Ironically we're now seeing the destruction of the family unit, marriage, solid employment and other things as a result of the baby boomer/hippy generations actions. Their "living" has resulted in them mortgaging their children's future's.

Terence McKenna was a tripped out fool who spoke social commentary that can be found elsewhere. End of.

I am a very intellectual, logical, and critical/deep thinker. I am also very moral and humanistic. My main quality is non-conformity
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Then work inside the system and turn it around. Be the wolf in sheep's clothing. Face the pain so others may enjoy a better tomorrow. That's what our society needs, as opposed to conformists and non-conformist hedonists. It needs people with fucking spine and brains to turn this shit heap upside down. That is the greatest act of non-conformity there is my friend.. carving your own path, living, whilst fulfilling your duty as a human being as opposed to just being an animal.


In a nutshell. Think about whether you are going to change in the future (answer: yes). And see that the kind of job you're dreaming of simply does not exist in this world. This is hell, mate.. open your eyes. Maybe in your next life you'll be on a planet that isn't so fucking backwards.. who knows.. it's what I dream about sometimes.

Probably not the answer you were looking for. I'm 27, going into a career that doesn't necessarily pay great (Landscape Architecture), but will at least offer me an opportunity to throw a spanner in the machine in a creative way, potentially. At the least it will cover my living expenses and is creative enough to not be a total drab every day!
 
^ that sounds too rational

Be a professional blogger?
A marketing whatever person thing?

More great ideas on the way, stay tuned...
 
Just incase anyone missed it, this thread is years old at this point.
 
ahint said:
Just incase anyone missed it, this thread is years old at this point.
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Still remains the million dollar question - has OP found the big ticket for non-conformity? :D

Agree with everything -=SS=- posted. About the only money for non conformists not willing to work within the system lies with bullshitters bullshitting about drugs, politics, society, philosophy, et al. However, even real philosophers are subjected to long and somewhat mentally arduous texts. Political affairs can be too limiting... so it's easier to be a hippie.

Oh well, there's always drugs. Nevermind me, lol.
 
Wow, you sound exactly like my fiance. He works a regular 9-5 job right but does his own research, learning, etc..... he's not a 9-5 guy but does it for the money (I mean, he enjoys his work.... but it's still work). If you need the money, find a job that makes ends meet, and do what you really want to do. Art, music, whatever. And do what you love when you can. It keeps you busy for sure but we figure, at some point, he'll be able to cut down his job and do what he enjoys later on :)
 
I consider myself to be an intellectual nonconformist as well. I've been in the corporate world for the past 6-7 years and am feeling increasingly like it's not the place for me. So I can relate to much of what you have said. I'm an ENTP. Also with OCD. I know this forum is several years old, so you've probably already found your job and path in life. For me, I'm still looking. One book I recently read that was useful to me is called "Renaissance Souls." It talks about non-traditional careers for creative thinkers with multiple interests. Just wanted to share that recommendation, in case it's of interest to you. Best of luck in whatever path you choose in life. I know you'll find your way.
 
Yeah, the people are always making me boil my hands.

When I say, are you fat? They say, "No, but when we are, fuck you."

Right?
 
arthunter888 said:
I have ADD/ADHD and OCD, so my attention span is very short, and I hate reading lengthy uninteresting information. I do not perform well under pressure (especially a TIME LIMIT). My favorite figure is Terence Mckenna. I am also very introverted and constantly philosophizing/thinking.
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I'm sorry if this could be too pessimistic...
I have been in your position, 10-13 years ago, but I didn't even know that I had ADD, it was just too horrible for me to even try to get into some intellectual job as college professor or something like that.. I knew that, but I didn't know what/how to choose except for that.
If you don't want to think about suicide overtime the best thing you can do is get a good job that you don't dislike, and specially a job that would allow you to have enough spare time to develop your interests on your own.
Otherwise you are going to find more and more frustrating conditions and you will realize how rotten and inhuman the "intellectual world" is.
I tell because I lived close to that social context, several friends of mine got into university, got their Ph.D. and post-doc stuff, and tried (succesfully) to get into Academy and other stuff.

All of them are "intelligent" but all of them are also very compliant, they are not subversive at all and not original, they just "flow" with everything that is needed to get into that world and they think "tomorrow I'll do what I really want, not today, because I cannot". None of them have ADD and none of them have any problem with reading long and boring books.
I'm talking about sociologists, politic sciences, philosophers, anthropology...
Maybe in your country the intellectual world is blossoming and there's different places or jobs that one could apply with your attitude and potential, what I can tell you it's that in my country (southern europe) that is completely non-existant if you don't think in a similar way to some political party or ideological niche, that's the truth...
probably in places like France that is a bit different, not here.
 
What I can think of in terms of specific stuff is something like MAPS, find some similar organization, send some email to someone that works there and ask him/her about what you should learn to help in some organization like that.
Apart from that my advice is what I've posted.
 
Mysterier said:
Only the OP could answer that, and they haven't been here for a while. Perhaps we could summon them.

@arthunter888
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ahahh, I didn't realized the thread was years old...
such a mess of mind,
well, my message is here for the next person with the same problem, it's honest at least.:rofl:
 
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