It took me a long time to understand the 'stakes are so small' statement about academia. I used to see it as a humorous statement about the disconnected irrele

It took me a long time to understand the 'stakes are so small' statement about academia. I used to see it as a humorous statement about the disconnected irrelevance of academia. As a professional academic, I now read it as 'the stakes are so few'. Academic politics are rigidly contained by existing structures and limited funding. There may only be one or two ways to 'win' within the framework, with a limited number of 'winners'. In such an environment, vicious politics may be unsurprising.