my two-pence as a fellow drop out.
First and foremost speak - it’s easy to feel inferior but most importantly speak to people as that’s how you become secure in your knowledge and learn how to articulate yourself.
I have many issues with academia, one of them being the forms and structures you’re expected to follow. it‘s selective and exclusive, as well as being inherently elitist especially in countries where you have to pay for higher education.
I could write and essay on this, but right now I’ll only argue for what i think is the most fundamental and that is: In any educational institution you are taught a specific way of articulating and formulating yourself. This structure is learned and as a society it’s what we associate with intellectualisation and our concept of knowledge as its the format which has prevailed (historically only accessible to the privileged few with money). This Is also tied to a western obsession with the literary word where other forms of communication are valued to a lesser extent.
There are lesser opportunities if you chose to go a route outside of education - because it’s less likely to economically make profit.
i think it’s important to remember that academia does not determine how clever you are, its a skill and a way of articulating yourself - your ideas may be infinitely more progressive and unprecedented but within these institutions it will always depends on how you formulate and intellectually present yourself.
dont fear having a dialogue with other people because it will improve your skill at communicating in person- which undoubtedly has more impact than the written word ever had, and ever will have.
we all digest information differently- wether that’s audio, visual, through words written on a page or a video of someone talking. the internet archive is incredible because of its many different mediums and everything is accessible for FREE!!
https://archive.org
The anarchist library is good for reading up on revolutionary ideas ;)
