> so if after all that I'm still not clear on what is meant by academic research or the point in the practice as presented to me during that time it's hardly my fault.

Perhaps, but the mindset of delegating your intellectual advancement to others really is not compatible with being in academia, let alone getting a PhD.

Apologies if that's the way I'm coming across, my intent was the opposite. My mindset isn't one of delegating my intellectual advancement to others, my experience of academia is that academia actively stifled it. I almost dropped out of my bachelors be ause I felt I wasn't learning anything, but my wife talked me out of it.

I'm certainly interested in learning and exploring and finding out stuff, but my experience so far is that the academic processes stand in the way of this.