Q: "Why is academia so cut-throat?" A: "Because the stakes are so low." My dad was a professor and researcher (in ecology) in the 60s and 70s. He had a cartoo

Q: "Why is academia so cut-throat?" A: "Because the stakes are so low." My dad was a professor and researcher (in ecology) in the 60s and 70s. He had a cartoon on his office wall, later relocated to his office at home, which depicted two priests having a conversation beneath the image of a very famous prophet being tortured (honestly, it doesn't matter which prophet). One priest is saying to the other, "He was a great teacher, but he didn't publish." My dad had a stress-related heart attack at 50, which he survived, and he semi-retired to a part-time professorship at a different university so that he could continue to work with grad students, which he loved doing.