It seems to be common knowledge that the systems behind publishing papers and getting grants are nearly completely broken. It feels like a weird hazing ritual, where the people who get through it fiercely defend their abuse.
> Is entrepreneurship a trap? No; right now, it's one of the only ways to avoid being trapped.
... Realistically, you need to be rather well off to have even one good shot at starting a company. Get sick at the wrong time and forget about it. Get less than very lucky, and forget about it. Get your ideas stolen by a megacorp; forget about it.
I'm so tired of seeing truly extraordinary people forced to do menial labour to survive, and starting a company in the hopes of getting lucky isn't all that much better.
> I'm so tired of seeing truly extraordinary people forced to do
menial labour to survive
This * 10.
The teacher/mentor part of me relishes seeing success for others.
Meeting many talented, creative and hard working people in my life had
been a privilege. But I do feel a sense of injustice and awful
waste. To see people who could change the world and solve real
problems settle for less, that hurts. When graduation time comes
around I sometimes feel a dark sense of helplessness, and maybe
something of a hypocrite/imposter because the one thing I cannot teach
or offer is opportunity.
> and starting a company in the hopes of getting lucky isn't all that
much better.
Maybe not, but I encourage all of them to give it a shot once in life.
At least failure is yours to own and not feeling thwarted by some
manager prick whose decision to obstruct your dream was just a way to
get by for one more day in a firm they couldn't care less for.
> I'm so tired of seeing truly extraordinary people forced to do menial labour to survive
On the bright side, it's probably never been easier for genius type people to become societally useful (and rewarded for it) than now! I was just reading Two Years Before The Mast (1835-ish), where the Harvard educated protagonist met a savant type person working on a ship, but that person was doomed to not rise above his position without a lifetime of struggle. It's not foolproof by any means, but our education system at least found @cperciva and gave him ample status just for his applied intellect to where he could pursue almost anything he wished.
> Is entrepreneurship a trap? No; right now, it's one of the only ways to avoid being trapped.
... Realistically, you need to be rather well off to have even one good shot at starting a company. Get sick at the wrong time and forget about it. Get less than very lucky, and forget about it. Get your ideas stolen by a megacorp; forget about it.
I'm so tired of seeing truly extraordinary people forced to do menial labour to survive, and starting a company in the hopes of getting lucky isn't all that much better.