It isn&#x27;t cause for despair. In the grand scheme of things, none of us is so important and the desire to &quot;achieve&quot; more than we have is, in some sense, a wish to bless ourselves.<p>There&#x27;s nothing to prevent you from studying those things today, within the constraints of your spare time. If you find the study intrinsically gratifying, I see no reason you should enjoy it any less because it probably won&#x27;t result in a professorship.