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There's a massive brain drain to look forward to in the next couple decades, especially in the US. Pretty much none of my best peers went in to a PhD program fo

There's a massive brain drain to look forward to in the next couple decades, especially in the US. Pretty much none of my best peers went in to a PhD program for many of the reasons you described. One of my roommates got his PhD in optical physics and is essentially living the life of a monk. Its so much easier to cash out for a pretty basic engineering role and get a lifetime (hopefully) of easy, stable income. Many skilled jobs are leaving the US (ie CGI leaving Hollywood for Canada and elsewhere) and political instability (ie immigration) is cutting out a big chunk of the upper quartile as well. In addition, the average individual has most of their life decisions made for them via simple, accessible tools and the lower half has a fraction of the competence of their predecessors. I'd guess maybe 5% of my friends/peers spend any time reading. Maybe 60% over my friends outside of tech are seriously struggling financially. Almost all of my coworkers are immigrants on O-1 visas and there's really nothing here for them long term, especially if they feel unwelcome. The moment another country provides a better offer, I bet 95% of them will go there instead. Probably many that are here now will go too.

arcanus 9y ago
Couldn't agree more. On the other hand, the research salaries some of my friends are pulling in at the big companies are substantial. And everyone on this site knows what some of the premier software devs are pulling in. Similar dictomy in law, and I suspect many other fields. This is why I'm currently obsessed with cyberpunk. There is a massive bifurcation happening in society right now. Haves and have-nots. Some who are reaping massive gains, and many who are barely getting by.
tnecniv 9y ago
Why is CGI heading to Canada? I know its common for TV to film up there for tax / government arts funding reasons. Is it a similar situation or something else?
- sandworm101 9y ago
  CGI, like the rest of the film/tv industry, will go where the money is best. There is nothing in film/tv production that cannot be loaded into a truck and shipped elsewhere overnight ... people included. Work is moving to canada for the tax credits but you'd be surprised at how many "canadian" productions are actually filmed overseas. TheBorgias was canadian. Versailles, filmed in france with brit actors, is supported by the canadian government and RBC (my bank) no doubt for some tax advantage. Even the first season of the Doctor Who reboot in 2005 was a joint production with the CBC. Check the credits. No matter where it is filmed, canada supports it.
  - majormajor 9y ago
    > There is nothing in film/tv production that cannot be loaded into a truck and shipped elsewhere overnight ... people included. Once you include people, how many other industries would be any different? Mining, tourism, oil drilling seem tied to a set location, but assembling something? Tech or not, seems you could just ship the people and parts anywhere.
    - sandworm101 9y ago
      All reasource extraction. Tourism. Financial services (tied to jurisdiction). Much of the defense industry. Health care. Live entertainment. Hospitality (hotels). Transport. Infrastructure construction and maintenance. Environmental services. Real estate. Space launch. Government. .... not everything fits into trucks.
      - Arizhel 9y ago
        Space launch can be done in many different places, but the higher the latitude the more fuel you have to burn. But even staying at the lower latitudes, there's still a bunch of popular launch locations to choose from. Real estate isn't worth much if your country's economy goes down the tubes.
        sandworm101 9y ago
        Space launch is positioned first on the basis of local infrastructure. It requires massive local manufacturing facilities and extensive range equipment. If orbital mechanics was the primary driver every pad would be on the equator and russia wouldnt launch much of anything.
        Arizhel 9y ago
        Yes, but my point is, there are already many different launch sites around the world, many of them outside the US. The US does not have anything approaching a monopoly on space launches.
Arizhel 9y ago
>Many skilled jobs are leaving the US Where would you (or other interested commentators) say the skilled jobs are going to?
- HarryHirsch 9y ago
  India & China, where else? Here's a personal anecdote: my graduate supervisor retired a few years ago, and there was a reunion. His first students did extremely well, they were at places like Dow their whole lives. It went downhill from there, except for his last graduate student, who returned to China and started a contract research organization over there. The government with all its wisdom wouldn't issue him a visa, though.

arcanus 9y ago

Couldn't agree more. On the other hand, the research salaries some of my friends are pulling in at the big companies are substantial. And everyone on this site knows what some of the premier software devs are pulling in. Similar dictomy in law, and I suspect many other fields. This is why I'm currently obsessed with cyberpunk. There is a massive bifurcation happening in society right now. Haves and have-nots. Some who are reaping massive gains, and many who are barely getting by.

tnecniv 9y ago

Why is CGI heading to Canada? I know its common for TV to film up there for tax / government arts funding reasons. Is it a similar situation or something else?

sandworm101 9y ago
CGI, like the rest of the film/tv industry, will go where the money is best. There is nothing in film/tv production that cannot be loaded into a truck and shipped elsewhere overnight ... people included. Work is moving to canada for the tax credits but you'd be surprised at how many "canadian" productions are actually filmed overseas. TheBorgias was canadian. Versailles, filmed in france with brit actors, is supported by the canadian government and RBC (my bank) no doubt for some tax advantage. Even the first season of the Doctor Who reboot in 2005 was a joint production with the CBC. Check the credits. No matter where it is filmed, canada supports it.
- majormajor 9y ago
  > There is nothing in film/tv production that cannot be loaded into a truck and shipped elsewhere overnight ... people included. Once you include people, how many other industries would be any different? Mining, tourism, oil drilling seem tied to a set location, but assembling something? Tech or not, seems you could just ship the people and parts anywhere.
  - sandworm101 9y ago
    All reasource extraction. Tourism. Financial services (tied to jurisdiction). Much of the defense industry. Health care. Live entertainment. Hospitality (hotels). Transport. Infrastructure construction and maintenance. Environmental services. Real estate. Space launch. Government. .... not everything fits into trucks.
    - Arizhel 9y ago
      Space launch can be done in many different places, but the higher the latitude the more fuel you have to burn. But even staying at the lower latitudes, there's still a bunch of popular launch locations to choose from. Real estate isn't worth much if your country's economy goes down the tubes.
      - sandworm101 9y ago
        Space launch is positioned first on the basis of local infrastructure. It requires massive local manufacturing facilities and extensive range equipment. If orbital mechanics was the primary driver every pad would be on the equator and russia wouldnt launch much of anything.
        Arizhel 9y ago
        Yes, but my point is, there are already many different launch sites around the world, many of them outside the US. The US does not have anything approaching a monopoly on space launches.

Arizhel 9y ago

>Many skilled jobs are leaving the US Where would you (or other interested commentators) say the skilled jobs are going to?

HarryHirsch 9y ago
India & China, where else? Here's a personal anecdote: my graduate supervisor retired a few years ago, and there was a reunion. His first students did extremely well, they were at places like Dow their whole lives. It went downhill from there, except for his last graduate student, who returned to China and started a contract research organization over there. The government with all its wisdom wouldn't issue him a visa, though.