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Not surviving in academia
Nov. 2nd, 2016 03:52 pm"Surviving in academia" is an oxymoron. Being in academia has, or should have, nothing to do with surviving, and people who want to survive should not be in the academia in the first place.
The archetypal example of a researcher is an experimental scientist who is risking his life in his laboratory every day. He is working with substances that can inflame or explode, he may get poisoned by a chemical or electrocuted by a thunder, or infected with a deadly pathogen, or receive a radioactivity dose, etc.
Even if one is not an experimental scientist, a researcher is dealing with new ideas and untested knowledge, which is dangerous if done in any serious way. The principal ethical obligation of an intellectual is to tell the truth. Telling the truth is dangerous.
People who want to survive should be selling muffins rather than proving theorems.
The archetypal example of a researcher is an experimental scientist who is risking his life in his laboratory every day. He is working with substances that can inflame or explode, he may get poisoned by a chemical or electrocuted by a thunder, or infected with a deadly pathogen, or receive a radioactivity dose, etc.
Even if one is not an experimental scientist, a researcher is dealing with new ideas and untested knowledge, which is dangerous if done in any serious way. The principal ethical obligation of an intellectual is to tell the truth. Telling the truth is dangerous.
People who want to survive should be selling muffins rather than proving theorems.
