4 ms·

It's really not an attainable career for almost anyone. Not even the vast majority of professors, who juggle the actual research with grant writing, mentoring s

It's really not an attainable career for almost anyone. Not even the vast majority of professors, who juggle the actual research with grant writing, mentoring students, lecturing, organizing and participating in conferences.

Applejinx 3y ago
No, you're mistaken. It's not attainable to make MONEY doing it, as a rule. I've been doing just that and still am, in my own field. It doesn't make money but it sure does eventually lead to influence and results. The money gradually creeps up (for instance Patreon, once you have enough influence to pull some patrons) but it never becomes comparable to normal work. If you want to do this but also have some fancy resources, inherit money. That's literally what happened to me, and it's returning to baseline with a moderate boost from having invested what I inherited in tools and materials.
- darkwater 3y ago
  Your description is still covered 100% by GP's "not for everyone" remark.
  - Retric 3y ago
    If they actually said “not for everyone” then sure, but it was a useful rebuttal to: “not an attainable career for almost anyone.” Many people can obtain financial independence fairly quickly, think FIRE, at which point less lucrative careers are quite reasonable options.
    - jacobr1 3y ago
      People can often take on more than they think. It just requires tradeoffs or sacrifices. Plenty of people that have kids, health issues, multiple jobs, still find the time to better themselves by going back to school or working out to improve health, or volunteering and or building a community program in some way. It just is rare to make that choice relative to our wealth of leisure options. It is easier (and very understandable) to just choose to find some enjoyment in your life by taking what joy you can. Which is why people that "go beyond" are celebrated in media. But it isn't unattainable in the same sense that, say, loosing weight isn't some magical thing that only the few can do. It instead is something hard, something that incentives conspire against, but nevertheless still accessible to most.
ergl 3y ago
Researches used to have secretaries that helped with the extra work. Who, apart from very high level executives, have secretaries any more?
- sneak 3y ago
  Lots of people. I know several wealthy people with 1-3 full time staff. During exceptionally busy periods I frequently hire someone full time for a few weeks or a month to handle all of the things I can't. It's super common.
  - rqtwteye 3y ago
    It’s super common among high level or wealthy people. It’s much less common amongst lower ranks.
  - earthling8118 3y ago
    Yes, exactly. It's a rare thing and for people that have wealth and are involved in wealthy circles. On the other side of things, I could never hire someone to help me. I have to spend my time worrying about trivial things like optimizing my food budget so I don't starve. I don't have the ability to pull away the distractions. And yes, I am a tech worker in the USA. I still have to do this kind of thing.
n4r9 3y ago
Worth noting it seems like didn't always used to be this way. My impression is researchers had much fewer distractions in the early 20th century. It's not surprising how much ground-breaking progress was made at the time when you see it this way.
- Tenoke 3y ago
  It seems rather naive to think that's the reason why there was so much progress then rather than say due to there being more low hanging fruit.
  - simmerup 3y ago
    They stood on the shoulders of giants just like we do. It seems naive to think that getting on those shoulders in this modern age won’t create a brand new batch of low hanging fruit to pick if you’re willing to put the effort in
    - yCombLinks 3y ago
      Eventually the tree is picked clean, it doesn't matter how high you go. There's just very little left and all the pickers are trying to get the same fruit.
      - simmerup 3y ago
        People thought the same one hundred years ago, and they will likely feel the same in the next hundred years when we all have our own AI assistants and probably stuff like ocular implants to replace monitors and other unfathomable discoveries
        yCombLinks 3y ago
        Everything we know about modern physics was being discovered at that time. Math formalism was really taking a foothold. Neither field has seen major advancements since roughly the 70s. Computer science is the same. Now we're computer plumbers, not scientists. I'm not suggesting there won't be advancements, but we solved most of the fundamentals in that time period

Applejinx 3y ago

No, you're mistaken. It's not attainable to make MONEY doing it, as a rule. I've been doing just that and still am, in my own field. It doesn't make money but it sure does eventually lead to influence and results. The money gradually creeps up (for instance Patreon, once you have enough influence to pull some patrons) but it never becomes comparable to normal work. If you want to do this but also have some fancy resources, inherit money. That's literally what happened to me, and it's returning to baseline with a moderate boost from having invested what I inherited in tools and materials.

darkwater 3y ago
Your description is still covered 100% by GP's "not for everyone" remark.
- Retric 3y ago
  If they actually said “not for everyone” then sure, but it was a useful rebuttal to: “not an attainable career for almost anyone.” Many people can obtain financial independence fairly quickly, think FIRE, at which point less lucrative careers are quite reasonable options.
  - jacobr1 3y ago
    People can often take on more than they think. It just requires tradeoffs or sacrifices. Plenty of people that have kids, health issues, multiple jobs, still find the time to better themselves by going back to school or working out to improve health, or volunteering and or building a community program in some way. It just is rare to make that choice relative to our wealth of leisure options. It is easier (and very understandable) to just choose to find some enjoyment in your life by taking what joy you can. Which is why people that "go beyond" are celebrated in media. But it isn't unattainable in the same sense that, say, loosing weight isn't some magical thing that only the few can do. It instead is something hard, something that incentives conspire against, but nevertheless still accessible to most.

ergl 3y ago

Researches used to have secretaries that helped with the extra work. Who, apart from very high level executives, have secretaries any more?

sneak 3y ago
Lots of people. I know several wealthy people with 1-3 full time staff. During exceptionally busy periods I frequently hire someone full time for a few weeks or a month to handle all of the things I can't. It's super common.
- rqtwteye 3y ago
  It’s super common among high level or wealthy people. It’s much less common amongst lower ranks.
- earthling8118 3y ago
  Yes, exactly. It's a rare thing and for people that have wealth and are involved in wealthy circles. On the other side of things, I could never hire someone to help me. I have to spend my time worrying about trivial things like optimizing my food budget so I don't starve. I don't have the ability to pull away the distractions. And yes, I am a tech worker in the USA. I still have to do this kind of thing.

n4r9 3y ago

Worth noting it seems like didn't always used to be this way. My impression is researchers had much fewer distractions in the early 20th century. It's not surprising how much ground-breaking progress was made at the time when you see it this way.

Tenoke 3y ago
It seems rather naive to think that's the reason why there was so much progress then rather than say due to there being more low hanging fruit.
- simmerup 3y ago
  They stood on the shoulders of giants just like we do. It seems naive to think that getting on those shoulders in this modern age won’t create a brand new batch of low hanging fruit to pick if you’re willing to put the effort in
  - yCombLinks 3y ago
    Eventually the tree is picked clean, it doesn't matter how high you go. There's just very little left and all the pickers are trying to get the same fruit.
    - simmerup 3y ago
      People thought the same one hundred years ago, and they will likely feel the same in the next hundred years when we all have our own AI assistants and probably stuff like ocular implants to replace monitors and other unfathomable discoveries
      - yCombLinks 3y ago
        Everything we know about modern physics was being discovered at that time. Math formalism was really taking a foothold. Neither field has seen major advancements since roughly the 70s. Computer science is the same. Now we're computer plumbers, not scientists. I'm not suggesting there won't be advancements, but we solved most of the fundamentals in that time period