What a disgustingly bourgeois article; check out this quote:
"I have known more people whose lives have been ruined by getting a Ph.D. in physics than by drugs."
Don't Become a Scientist.
51–60 of 94 posts
Re: Don't Become a Scientist.
#52Awesome. Not only does this guy disprove the rule that all tenured profs are hopeless optimists about becoming a prof, but he's even more of a pessimist than I am! I mean: I have known more people whose lives have been ruined by getting a Ph.D. in physics than by drugs. Um, no. Really, no. Spoken like a guy who hasn't really known many people whose lives have been ruined by drugs. The situation is bad -- everything t…
To be fair, its not like drugs come up and ruin peoples lives. Losers just take drugs on their way down.
Re: Don't Become a Scientist.
#53Science is disillusioning. I used to have a 2nd job doing programming work for bioinformatics researchers. I did this off and on for about 4 years: 2000-2004. I had two reasons for doing this - I harbored a desire to do 'science' and contribute to the grand body of human knowledge. I hoped the contacts I made would help me get into a good graduate program. The other reason was money - I worked in my spare time and ma…
I wonder if the Biotech field is this depressing. I thought that it would be different with all that's happening in the field.
Anybody have experience in Biotech that cares to comment?
Re: Don't Become a Scientist.
#54Awesome. Not only does this guy disprove the rule that all tenured profs are hopeless optimists about becoming a prof, but he's even more of a pessimist than I am! I mean: I have known more people whose lives have been ruined by getting a Ph.D. in physics than by drugs. Um, no. Really, no. Spoken like a guy who hasn't really known many people whose lives have been ruined by drugs. The situation is bad -- everything t…
"There are people I know who have endured years of continuing depression because they were unable to become tenured professors. But there are also people I know who are depressed because they aren't bestselling novelists, professional musicians, lottery winners, or Bill Gates." Granted, but science is totally unlike music, writing or gambling, in that that the best-case payoff is still quite meager. Wanting to become…
> but a professorship depends only on intelligence
Myeah, but personal relationships and contacts play a big role. Along with where you live. Einstein was kept out of academia before his big year, right? How close were we from losing him altogether?
Re: Don't Become a Scientist.
#55Are the prospects this bad in math as well?
Re: Don't Become a Scientist.
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
"There are people I know who have endured years of continuing depression because they were unable to become tenured professors. But there are also people I know who are depressed because they aren't bestselling novelists, professional musicians, lottery winners, or Bill Gates." Granted, but science is totally unlike music, writing or gambling, in that that the best-case payoff is still quite meager. Wanting to become…
> but a professorship depends only on intelligence Myeah, but personal relationships and contacts play a big role. Along with where you live. Einstein was kept out of academia before his big year, right? How close were we from losing him altogether?
Way past.
Re: Don't Become a Scientist.
#57A dissenting view
It's true that, as the article and many commenters have said,there are lots of bad places, and bad cultures within academia.
So what? There's also some great groups and great cultures within academia. If you want to go the academic path, the thing to do is to make sure you end up in such a place. So far as I can see the way to achieve this is:
(1) Do a lot of research before you join a group. Just because a group looks great from the outside (brand name University, famous prof) doesn't mean it'll be a good experience. Interview former members; tour the lab; ask hard questions about the culture - what do people love about their jobs; what do they think is the worst thing about the culture; what do they think about their career prospects? Follow up on these questions in detail - most people love to talk about their careers, and if they won't, it often means that they're not happy. If you get defensive responses, or a refusal to respond, that tells you what you need to know about the culture. Don't look back.
(2) Iterate until you find a group that looks excellent.
(3) Mentally, when you join a group, think of it as being on probation. After three and then six months, ask yourself "Am I having fun? Is what I'm doing making a difference? Is the culture here genuinely good?" If the answer to all these questions isn't yes, get out, and go join another group. This is hard to do - you'll get a lot of advice to the contrary - but 9 times out of 10 the results are a major improvement.
I'm leaving academia now, after PhD, postdocs, being a tenured prof, the whole nine yards. It was tough at times, but overall, it was an asbolute blast.
Re: Don't Become a Scientist.
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
What is wrong with it?
Unless you get a faculty position at a stellar university (highly unlikely nowadays), the teaching will be depressing. And your research will suffer as a result since you will be in no mood to do it. Also, unless you plan to do everything yourself for research, you will need to get some funding. But whether you get that funding depends on whether your peers -- competitors actually -- like what you plan to do. Finally…
Actually, the teaching is depressing even at stellar universities. I'm a postdoc at such a place. Last semester, I taught "Calculus for kids who don't care." This semester, I'm teaching "Poker and craps for kids who don't care."
I suspect the only way to avoid this is to work at an engineering school (not necessarily a top one).
Re: Don't Become a Scientist.
#59What he really means is not "don't become a scientist" but "don't get a job as a professor." The two are by no means identical. There were scientists long before there were research professors (that concept dates from about 1870) and there are still plenty of scientists who aren't professors.
Like being a writer, being a scientist depends on what you do, not who pays you.
Re: Don't Become a Scientist.
#60Are the prospects this bad in math as well?
Yes.
The only difference (but a big one in my view) is that you are an independent researcher from the very beginning.