I agree with the overall sentiment of your post, but not with: Academically, these are often quite successful people whose ideas and scientific results are admi

I agree with the overall sentiment of your post, but not with: Academically, these are often quite successful people whose ideas and scientific results are admired. I find that putting in the hours is nothing that necessarily moves you ahead academically - since the competition is so high, it is simply a necessity to stay in the game. I've been in C.S.-ish research for well over 20 years, and really the only reason to do it is because you love it. Otherwise, for the amount of work you need to put in to stay relevant, you might as well find a job in the industry where the pay is much higher given your qualification. Depending on which country you are in, you may not have much of a career perspective either, as tenured positions are rare, and to a good degree come down to luck. Not only luck, of course, but there are a lot of factors that you cannot influence (enough).