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I remember this article from a year ago. It's a beautiful piece of prose that really stuck with me, thanks for sharing this again. The first year of my PhD pro

I remember this article from a year ago. It's a beautiful piece of prose that really stuck with me, thanks for sharing this again. The first year of my PhD program is ending, and I feel like I've been adrift the whole time: floating by without much direction, not doing much more than the bare minimum. I've been needing to reevaluate my priorities and find what I should really be doing. I've already decided I won't end up in academia, I couldn't win the endless pile of tasks. Not sure what I need to learn from this article but learning to make the most of the rest of your life is high on my list :)

Aeolun 5y ago
> It's a beautiful piece of prose that really stuck with me That’s what stuck with me most. I kind of knew where the content was going, but this felt really nicely written.
HenryBemis 5y ago
>I couldn't win the endless pile of tasks. and from the article: > I will tell them if they perform each one of these tasks perfectly, they will be rewarded with more tasks. 'Places' like WoW made a fortune with the innate need to 'complete tasks'. It's the cheap thrill of 'accomplishment'.
Balgair 5y ago
> Gold for your dust, sir. Pearls for your pigs > I’ve wanted a job like this for so long, I barely even know why I want it anymore. I look at my hands. I can’t tell if they’re mine. > But also I wanted an office with a number. I wanted a university ID. I wanted access to a fancy library and benefits and students and colleagues and travel money. I wanted the whole stupid kingdom. “And then what?” says my mother. “And then nothing,” I say as I jump off the very top of a fairy tale that has no place for me. She has such a great way with English. She is much better off outside of the Ivory Tower, out here, making gifts and hay. Dreadfully, her mother was right.
- silexia 5y ago
  The impression given by her piece is that everything she is doing is pointless. She is absolutely right. The university system has evolved from teaching people how to be adults to being a scam to line the pockets of those in the administration and professorships. It needs to be blown up and started again from scratch.
  - dragonwriter 5y ago
    > The university system has evolved from teaching people how to be adults The university system was never about that, even as a first order approximation.

Aeolun 5y ago

> It's a beautiful piece of prose that really stuck with me That’s what stuck with me most. I kind of knew where the content was going, but this felt really nicely written.

HenryBemis 5y ago

>I couldn't win the endless pile of tasks. and from the article: > I will tell them if they perform each one of these tasks perfectly, they will be rewarded with more tasks. 'Places' like WoW made a fortune with the innate need to 'complete tasks'. It's the cheap thrill of 'accomplishment'.

Balgair 5y ago

> Gold for your dust, sir. Pearls for your pigs > I’ve wanted a job like this for so long, I barely even know why I want it anymore. I look at my hands. I can’t tell if they’re mine. > But also I wanted an office with a number. I wanted a university ID. I wanted access to a fancy library and benefits and students and colleagues and travel money. I wanted the whole stupid kingdom. “And then what?” says my mother. “And then nothing,” I say as I jump off the very top of a fairy tale that has no place for me. She has such a great way with English. She is much better off outside of the Ivory Tower, out here, making gifts and hay. Dreadfully, her mother was right.

silexia 5y ago
The impression given by her piece is that everything she is doing is pointless. She is absolutely right. The university system has evolved from teaching people how to be adults to being a scam to line the pockets of those in the administration and professorships. It needs to be blown up and started again from scratch.
- dragonwriter 5y ago
  > The university system has evolved from teaching people how to be adults The university system was never about that, even as a first order approximation.