Goodbye Academia

Post by XorNot » Tue, Mar 04, 2014, 7:55 AM UTC

kd0amg wrote: post #65

rjzzleep wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i wish it was just the money. when i went into the university i was hoping to find people like me. it attracts bright minds, but it doesn't encourage them in any sort of way. a bright mind in that system is worth "almost" the same as the average joe who studied enough to pass through the system. so we're there, scattered, with no means to find each other. some of them do so anyway, it's what keeps them put up with th…

but what benefit is it to be packed in basics classes that you don't need to anyone? you don't get to skip classes you already know, you have to sit through them, and waste your time When I chose where to study (for undergrad), a major factor in the decision was minimizing the amount of coursework I would have to repeat.

Post by eli_gottlieb » Tue, Mar 04, 2014, 8:49 AM UTC

rwallace wrote: post #140

shas3 wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The analogy does not make sense. I know many colleagues who got into academia and were able to find plenty of funding. It wasn't a lucky break that helped them, but hard work and talent. The system is far from perfect, but it is not 'feudal', etc. as the parent comment claims. Systematic hard work can get you results in academia. From what I understand about show-biz, it requires a lot more than just talent and hard…

There's a point beyond which "systematic hard work" becomes allocation by sacrifice, which is one of the most stupidly wasteful and destructive things an institution can do. If society is unwilling to adequately fund science - a very unwise decision - then it should at least allocate by random lottery instead of sacrifice and cut down on the waste of life. As an individual, if you find yourself in an institution that…

Post by dnautics » Tue, Mar 04, 2014, 9:10 AM UTC

pseut wrote: post #153

dnautics wrote: post #55

I quit my second postdoc to launch a nonprofit research institute (we did not get funding, and are retrying later this year). I currently drive for lyft - and make more money than I did as a postdoc, with far fewer hours and better working conditions. This makes economic sense; it's not clear to me that what I was doing as a scientist was really doing society any good, at least as a late night driver I'm 1) giving pe…

If you graduated in 2009, you got screwed. I'm sorry.

Post by eli_gottlieb » Tue, Mar 04, 2014, 9:22 AM UTC

bduerst wrote: post #61

cabalamat wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it wasn't for obscure scientific research, WhatsApp wouldn't exist.

Slippery Slope: If it wasn't for obscure scientific research, almost nothing we know would exist. It doesn't mean that obscure scientific research has the same market value as almost everything.

Post by tsotha » Tue, Mar 04, 2014, 9:43 AM UTC

prirun wrote: post #150

naterator wrote: post #4

These kinds of things are daily discussions in laboratories all over the world. Everyone knows there's no future in academia, and so everyone is looking for an exit plan. I actively discourage people from doing a PhD. Academia is a horrible feudalistic system that doesn't pay well enough to keep the bright minds it attracts. There is no sense in being a post-doc for life. Much better to take that hedge fund job. The…

The medical / pharma industry is not interested in cures for diseases; they only want lifelong treatments. True capitalists, seeking maximum profit.