I Just Wasn't Made for These Times

"They say I got brains, but they ain't doin' me no good."

Have I mentioned that I'm a genius? Oh, yes indeed. Although admittedly, only as a function of my complete ignorance of human intellectual acheivement. I should provide some examples.

At the age of 19, I invented rationalist metaphysics. Of course, that was before I had read Spinoza who beat me to it by more than 400 years. I must concede, however, that Spinoza did it better. I wrestled fruitlessly for days with the problem of reconciling free will with materialism until an early morning class lecture made everything so clear.

Another time, I predicted the end of philosophy. Eventually, all areas of philosophy may, in fact, should be made obsolete by empirical study. Even the social sciences, of which we have so little practical knowledge now, will become empiricized and philosophy will occupy less and less space in human thought. This idea is basically an extension of my metaphysics. It also bears a striking resemblance to the positivist movement of the early 19th century. Oops.

Most recently, I came up with the concept of Quantum Immortality. I created it and saw that it was good. Then I saw this Wiki article. Foiled again.

Some people are born ahead of their time. They are forced into conflict with the established ideas and practices of their day as they try to forge a new path of greatness for mankind. People like Copernicus, Galileo, umm... Al Gore.
I, on the other hand was born too late. Hundreds and hundreds of years too late to make an impact on the world.