To what extent is an amateur "allowed" to investigate philosophy or other portions of academia?

Well, it depends how heavy the weight is, and how many reps and sets you're doing; then, you should do the amount of work that gets you that skill. It makes no difference whether you're an amateur or a professional.

Consider someone who is genuinely interested in philosophy. They like to listen to little 5 minute videos about philosophical ideas, arguments for some principle, etc. If these materials, which are intended primarily to popularize an idea, are considered worthless by an academic in the field, then the listener has wasted their time. If it really isn't possible to get a general understanding of Kant without reading Hume, let alone "The Critique of Pure Reason", and this person simply doesn't have the time to read these materials, then it follows that there isn't much to be gained from this 5 minute blurb. Is this the case? How much reading does this person have to do before their attempts become worthwhile?

Should you watch "Citizen Kane" before watching "Bad Boys"? I don't know: are you going to go lecture people about the evolution of cinema from "Citizen Kane" to "Bad Boys"?

I'm going to use the social science topic as an example: presumably, the people inhabiting /r/BadSocialScience (and probably any /r/BadSomething sub) are a collection of academics that more or less represent a good sample of people within the field (or at least, the type of people that would consider browsing Reddit). I think it only makes sense to weigh the input of professionals in the field more than your own amateur opinion, but if they don't think there's any value in an amateur "bite-sized" interest in their field, then it seems reasonable to no longer pursue any knowledge in that field unless you're willing to go all-or-nothing.

With the "Bad Boys" example, imagine that somebody talks about how they really liked "Bad Boys" and how it was a quality action flick, that it was a good entry in Cinematography. Now, somebody who studied film and enjoys classics like "North By Northwest" and "Apocalypse Now" sees this comment and points out how ridiculously stupid and naive it is (that's not my view). What should the Bad Boys watcher take from it? Should he never comment on film? When should he feel okay with sharing his opinion on film? When can he feel as though he can appreciate film? If the ability to "really" appreciate film requires a film studies degree, how should this person act? Is a film student in the right to bring down their appreciation of "Bad Boys"?

/r/askphilosophy Thread Parent