I've had somewhat the opposite experience - I left academia (math) and am very happy to do programming for a living on so-called mundane CRUD apps. Academia su

I've had somewhat the opposite experience - I left academia (math) and am very happy to do programming for a living on so-called mundane CRUD apps. Academia suffocates you with its processes, and the tendency of it to zombify young academics to thinking that high abstraction is the only way to go in life is in itself horrible. In the end, I'm happy doing what I do. Mathematics was a fun challenge, but I never viewed myself as just a mathematician - I have a deep thinking highly adaptable mind that is geared to solve problems, not just be a specialist.