Our panel of 91 professional philosophers has responded to

282
 questions about 
Knowledge
75
 questions about 
Perception
105
 questions about 
Art
154
 questions about 
Sex
218
 questions about 
Education
244
 questions about 
Justice
110
 questions about 
Biology
27
 questions about 
Gender
574
 questions about 
Philosophy
117
 questions about 
Children
284
 questions about 
Mind
81
 questions about 
Identity
43
 questions about 
Color
1280
 questions about 
Ethics
75
 questions about 
Beauty
39
 questions about 
Race
374
 questions about 
Logic
110
 questions about 
Animals
67
 questions about 
Feminism
34
 questions about 
Music
31
 questions about 
Space
124
 questions about 
Profession
51
 questions about 
War
58
 questions about 
Punishment
77
 questions about 
Emotion
221
 questions about 
Value
2
 questions about 
Culture
89
 questions about 
Law
32
 questions about 
Sport
36
 questions about 
Literature
170
 questions about 
Freedom
151
 questions about 
Existence
5
 questions about 
Euthanasia
96
 questions about 
Time
70
 questions about 
Truth
287
 questions about 
Language
134
 questions about 
Love
88
 questions about 
Physics
2
 questions about 
Action
68
 questions about 
Happiness
24
 questions about 
Suicide
80
 questions about 
Death
54
 questions about 
Medicine
69
 questions about 
Business
4
 questions about 
Economics
392
 questions about 
Religion
23
 questions about 
History
58
 questions about 
Abortion
208
 questions about 
Science

Question of the Day

If I really believed that you really believed that these are the only two alternatives, then I'd probably believe that you're stupid. But I don't believe any such thing. I'd be willing to bet a tidy sum that if someone else asked you the very same question, you wouldn't have any trouble pointing out a whole bunch of alternatives that they're overlooking.

Since I don't know anything about your circumstances, I wouldn't presume to guess which alternative best fits your circumstances. But I do think the idea that there's a "real place" for each of us is something to be suspicious of, and I'm also pretty skeptical that even self-aware people are always reliable about what they're capable of.

Of course, if you've already grasped the second horn of your dilemma (false dilemma though it is), my reaction won't count. In spite of this, I'd suggest that one kind of reaction it's often wise to ignore is the one that tries to shame you into not trying things. The approval of people who react like that isn't worth having anyway.