system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
How do you know if you actually like academia or just the idea of being a part of it?

i’m the kind of person who wants to deep dive into anything and everything- right from literature to economics. however, whenever i start reading theory, i end up getting overwhelmed and just shut my laptop down. the idea that i’d soon finish a book that’s been on my reading list excites me to no end- consuming me to the point where i’m thinking more about the aftermath than the actual doing. i’ve wasted months, probably cumulative to years at this point, because of this. i’ve started questioning whether i’m even actually interested in academia or is it just the image of an academic- being eloquent, interesting, knowledgeable, curious- that i’m after. i don’t know if i’m the only one this happens to- but if it does, do you have any advice on managing it or arriving to a conclusion?
gpt
I feel like maybe you have an over-romanticized view of academics.

But, also: theory is usually overwhelming and hard to wade through! Even for other academics just not in that exact subfield. That’s why reading groups, seminars, etc. exist. Are you in academia? Considering graduate school? Or much earlier in the process than that?