3 ms·

I wonder if those PhDs are ready to suffer so much, why don't they work at SV companies where they can get free sushi + 6 figure salary and lots of interesting

I wonder if those PhDs are ready to suffer so much, why don't they work at SV companies where they can get free sushi + 6 figure salary and lots of interesting problems to solve. Why these people are so hung up on getting PhD title. Or any not become a YouTuber? We can easily see that ElectroBoom on YouTube is more respected in the world than any other person holding PhD in Electrical Engineering.

nvarsj 8y ago
It's not particularly hard to understand. Some people love to work on deep, challenging problems that can take years to solve. This kind of problem solving doesn't really exist in the tech industry. The vast majority of industry work is grunt work - the cutting edge would be implementing papers that poor graduate students publish. The rare places it does exist (e.g. Google/Microsoft research) generally require a PhD in the first place, and are very competitive roles.
- gattilorenz 8y ago
  Plus, in academia (at least in most countries of the EU, where you receive a salary during your PhD... I don't know how it works in other countries) you can focus on stimulating problems with little business value, and you can decide on your own your research topic, which is a kind of freedom I can't imagine in any industry. I'm more than willing to trade a significant amount of my salary for that freedom.
mattkrause 8y ago
The "title" is by far the least important part. I really only use it for junk mail and annoying airlines. I went to grad school because I loved science and mystery stories as a little kid, and my mind was absolutely blown when I discovered that you could get paid (a little) to solve scientific mysteries. I like the idea of figuring out the world and making it a better place much more than I like nicer clothes or a fancy car. I'm not a YouTuber because I use a multimillion dollar MRI machine, which my credit card wouldn't authorize, my landlord won't let me fill a room with monkeys, and I do my best work when I have colleagues to bounce ideas off of, not just comment boxes. I do grumble about academia a lot, but it mostly comes from wanting to see it live up to its ideals and possibilities. The current structure is bad in so many ways. You, the taxpayer, are paying for many of these students' training. Wouldn't you rather that they thrive? Even if you don't care about them as people, wouldn't you rather see a return on your investment, in the form of discoveries that make your life longer, healthier, and happier, than have them burn out and quit?
- yargaoo 8y ago
  Still dreaming? PhD work can be done by students from poor countries needing a visa

nvarsj 8y ago

It's not particularly hard to understand. Some people love to work on deep, challenging problems that can take years to solve. This kind of problem solving doesn't really exist in the tech industry. The vast majority of industry work is grunt work - the cutting edge would be implementing papers that poor graduate students publish. The rare places it does exist (e.g. Google/Microsoft research) generally require a PhD in the first place, and are very competitive roles.

gattilorenz 8y ago
Plus, in academia (at least in most countries of the EU, where you receive a salary during your PhD... I don't know how it works in other countries) you can focus on stimulating problems with little business value, and you can decide on your own your research topic, which is a kind of freedom I can't imagine in any industry. I'm more than willing to trade a significant amount of my salary for that freedom.

mattkrause 8y ago

The "title" is by far the least important part. I really only use it for junk mail and annoying airlines. I went to grad school because I loved science and mystery stories as a little kid, and my mind was absolutely blown when I discovered that you could get paid (a little) to solve scientific mysteries. I like the idea of figuring out the world and making it a better place much more than I like nicer clothes or a fancy car. I'm not a YouTuber because I use a multimillion dollar MRI machine, which my credit card wouldn't authorize, my landlord won't let me fill a room with monkeys, and I do my best work when I have colleagues to bounce ideas off of, not just comment boxes. I do grumble about academia a lot, but it mostly comes from wanting to see it live up to its ideals and possibilities. The current structure is bad in so many ways. You, the taxpayer, are paying for many of these students' training. Wouldn't you rather that they thrive? Even if you don't care about them as people, wouldn't you rather see a return on your investment, in the form of discoveries that make your life longer, healthier, and happier, than have them burn out and quit?

yargaoo 8y ago
Still dreaming? PhD work can be done by students from poor countries needing a visa