How to become an independent researcher

>why not be a legal researcher?
I hate law school.

>finishing school is the best idea
I will. I intend on working in my field (money reasons) and doing independent research as a hobby

The trick is to be able to do what the academy does but also do what it can't do, which is more subtle but is where the real creativity and interesting work lies. It's VERY VERY VERY RARE for independent researchers in any field to be recognised or published alongside real shit. They almost always get sucked down into pop or semi-pop or esoteric press stuff that is looked down upon by "real" academics.

If you do it, make sure you realise that standing outside the academy and being better than it isn't enough. You have to be able to walk right in the front doors, jump through all the hoops, and slap everyone in the face with your dick if you want to get recognised. Otherwise academics will look at your carefully researched book that is possibly more interesting than they'll ever write and go
>HEHEhe.. HE ISNT EVEN PUBLISHED IN ONE OF THE A-LEVEL PRESSES FOR THIS SORT OF THING.. HE ISN'T AN AWESOME TEPID MEDIOCRITY LIKE ME, HE DOESN'T GET TO HANG OUT IN THE COOL KIDS CLUBHOUSE LIKE I DO

One of the best ways to do it would be to completely annihilate the competition at something that is extremely, extremely visible and difficult to argue with. Writing another book on Heidegger is just going to get you ignored by the Heidegger Circle of Approved Important Heidegger Stuff, but making a major inarguable contribution to some philological thing maybe? Then again, that takes years of painstaking professional training and boring busywork you're better off doing within academia.

You only want that because you're a law student now. The grass seems greener on the other side. Please do the wise thing and just finish your degree. You'll hate it now, and you might hate it for the next decade.

The best way to approach this, in my opinion, is become a good lawyer, do it for a couple years to get good at it and make some money, which you will, and then slowly build down the hours you work.

You'll have all the money you need and as much time you can afford. Once you become older and your pay goes up, so goes your free time.

Quitting ahead of the game is going to be so much worse than just continuing and playing it smart.

Unless you're born rich, get a solid base and a source of money before doing whatever it is you want to do. First doing whatever you want to do without regard for your future is the perfect recipe for an adult life of failure and distress.

Thanks for the advice guys. I'll take those in consideration. Have a good week!

Find an archivist. Depending on your region, there's different qualifications, but they can advise you of rare collections and generally accepted procedures. (If you're in Canada, manuscript studies too)

You can luck out and find something nobody's written a book on. I've a few books by independent and academic researchers which are based on "so I went and looked at the collection on the third floor and it turns out nobody's looked at this important information since 1673...".

Law's a good background to get into most libraries and collections, but a lot of collections allow independent researchers too once you register.

Mmm, nice. Do libraries allow curious people to look at these collections? Besides, isn't those online collections enough?

>Mmm, nice. Do libraries allow curious people to look at these collections? Besides, isn't those online collections enough?
A lot of online collections haven't been catalogued or transcribed so you could help for free with a lot of those, since they are new and need manpower to go through them.

It depends on the collection. Some are by appointment, some are you're registered and request them on the day, some are with approval from whoever. That's why making friends with the archivist is handy, because they'll let you know which hoops to jump through.

Not OP but what are these online collections you're talking about? Can you give me some examples?

>A lot of online collections haven't been catalogued or transcribed so you could help for free with a lot of those, since they are new and need manpower to go through them.
That's a good idea, user, thanks.

This one of Irish folklore is slowly getting transcribed. Collected in the 1930s, it went online last year (I think) and you can see how much has been transcribed after each placename
duchas.ie/en/cbes

There's also ones for naming stars or composing molecules which are set up to be like a game, and if you google Zooniverse, you can find a lot of citizens research projects like that and some for the humanities too.
OP should check out their Ancient Lives project which is like the Irish project above, but transcribing papyrii for Egyptians.

I should mention the papyri are in Greek which is why I suggest it for OP.

I'm checking this Zooniverse. Exactly what I needed user. Thank you.

On a side note, has academia actually contributed to the field of philosophy in recent times?

this
the most you can contribute isn't legitimate research but a refactoring and reapproach of established ideas. Most people won't listen to you but you could garner some interest from academia, assuming you are rigourous about it (as well as you can be, without resources, institutions, and colleagues/associates there is only so much you can do.)

Basically, if you're particularly intelligent, insightful, and lucky. You may be able to contribute your dissident perspective.

Don't listen to these jerk-offs OP. Find me something "useful" to have come out of academia in the past 20 years outside of STEM, I triple dog fucking dare you. Especially given the PC climate we have now and the radical transformation the publishing industry has undergone since the birth of the internet, it's no surprise that "traditional" publishing has gone by the wayside. On the other hand though, it's more of a return to the day of widespread print in a way. The net has woken us up form the era of centralized information sources, and returning to a time where every town had their own newspaper. There's also the added bonus that you don't need to go to school to learn shit anymore, and often times when you do you won't learn a goddamned thing other than maybe a few (((translations))) or (((interpretations))) (pardon the jew meme LISP parentheses but they fit well to tell the truth.)

If you want to do it, then by all means do it. Show the world you're not fucking around and shove a boot up their asses by outdoing the pretentious fuck-wads who run the cartel of "credibility" in the academic institutions. It's your job as a writer, and if applicable, it's your job as a fucking American to preserve the sanctity of the pen. It is your birthright. Do not cower and wither away when presented with your right to speak freely, as it devalues and discredits the very foundation of liberty. Free speech is a beautiful thing, but with great power comes great responsibility.

Also on another note, if you look deep enough, you will find a treasure trove of shit nobody's written a meaningful piece on. There's so much shit that my blood boils over not having material to read up on. It all comes down to the fact that writing is scary. It's not something for the faint of heart, and even some of these "academics" aren't strong enough to write on certain subjects, because real research takes work, and I mean real work, not jsut copy-pasting shit from other books like they teach you in school. If you're serious about doing this OP, just know what you're in for and I wish you the best.

I wouldn't drop out of law school though. Do it on the side for now if you can find a way. Although I will say that becoming a welder, plumber, electrician or other type of skilled labor is always a good option if you hate school enough. I'd say evaluate how far you're into the game, how old you are right now, etc.

Seconding this

Become a marine biologist

This is horrible advice. As cool as it is (and belive me Marine Biology is cool as shit,) there are probably less than 100 new positions in Marine Biology every year. Unless of course, you're specifically talking about independent research in which I take it back, just play your cards right.