>like the freedom to speak your mind, or job security Nope, it only works as long as you play along with the political games the University administration is p

>like the freedom to speak your mind, or job security Nope, it only works as long as you play along with the political games the University administration is playing. Speak out too much and you will find problems getting funding/equipment/people and will be stuck in a basement office working on a 10-year-old laptop. It gets worse, if you refuse to kiss ass to a particular boss in industry, you can always shop around and find another job. As long as you are competent and know how to sell yourself, you will be fine. In academia, one ruined relation can permanently screw up your entire career. I wouldn't call it freedom. I would dare say, a fairly recognizable blog in a relevant area, and a professional network of ~50 people will give you orders of magnitude more freedom than any kind of academic track record. >Since you've put yourself in the position of measuring your dick against Lemire's, what's your most influential research publication? Well, I didn't start it, but since you want to engage in penisometry, I managed to create a product and build a business around it, that pays more than a salaried job would. And I would dare say, comparing academic citations to paying customers is like being paid in monopoly money vs. the real thing. But I realize that the risk/reward ratio of this approach is not for everyone, so I normally prefer to keep my dick in my pants.