As someone who is pretty much an outsider to this community, I think it is interesting that a major drive for many people in this community seems to be tackling the most important problems in the world. I am not saying is a bad thing, I am just surprised. In my case, I work in academia not so much because of the impact I can have working here, but mainly because it allows me to have a more balanced life with a flexible time schedule.
I’m actually pretty surprised by this, the people I personally know in academia who aren’t community members tend to a) be true believers about their impact or b) really love the problems they work on or their subfields or c) feel kind of burned. Liking academia for work-life balance reasons seem very surprising to me, even my friends in fields with a fair amount of free time (eg theoretical CS) usually believe that they can have an easier life elsewhere.
As someone who is pretty much an outsider to this community, I think it is interesting that a major drive for many people in this community seems to be tackling the most important problems in the world. I am not saying is a bad thing, I am just surprised. In my case, I work in academia not so much because of the impact I can have working here, but mainly because it allows me to have a more balanced life with a flexible time schedule.
I’m actually pretty surprised by this, the people I personally know in academia who aren’t community members tend to a) be true believers about their impact or b) really love the problems they work on or their subfields or c) feel kind of burned. Liking academia for work-life balance reasons seem very surprising to me, even my friends in fields with a fair amount of free time (eg theoretical CS) usually believe that they can have an easier life elsewhere.