To reach the boundary of what is known in your chosen field will require reading lots of papers, which will take (at least) several years. Doing research will also require implicit knowledge that is part of the field, but does not appear in papers.
Are you the kind of person who can spend several years reading papers without significant external help?
Where are you going to acquire the implicit knowledge, e.g., how to run experiments?
PhD students are the work-horses of academic research, and don’t have the power/money/experience to do anything other than tow the line. You have a degree of independence and experience that will deter many academics taking you on as a student.
Or: You could kick-start your research by applying your existing knowledge of (I assume) computing/software to cognitive issues in this field (see chapter 2)
To reach the boundary of what is known in your chosen field will require reading lots of papers, which will take (at least) several years. Doing research will also require implicit knowledge that is part of the field, but does not appear in papers.
Are you the kind of person who can spend several years reading papers without significant external help?
Where are you going to acquire the implicit knowledge, e.g., how to run experiments?
PhD students are the work-horses of academic research, and don’t have the power/money/experience to do anything other than tow the line. You have a degree of independence and experience that will deter many academics taking you on as a student.
Perhaps you can find an independent scientist to take you on as an apprentice.
Or: You could kick-start your research by applying your existing knowledge of (I assume) computing/software to cognitive issues in this field (see chapter 2)