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Comment by djkn0x | Hacker News Reader

There are some funny quips here (like "#WhenIGraduate I'm going to work for McKinsey because the hours are better"), but I like how each is paired with a pretty sobering 'fact'. For instance I was surprised that a postdoc scientist makes roughly the same as a McDonalds Store Manager (~$39k).

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> For instance I was surprised that a postdoc scientist makes roughly the same as a McDonalds Store Manager (~$39k).

The joys of supply and demand.

The McDonald's Store Manager is helping feed people. What is the average postdoc doing for the world? (I say this as a postdoc)

Getting ready to feed the souls of people with high-energetic food called THOUGHT.

Idk about 'average' (what does the average [insert any classification of person] do for the world?), but here is an example of a postdoc feeding the world

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Borlaug

edit: i just realized there is a "billions served" joke in there somewhere...

actually, no. Borlaug went straight from his PhD into industry (worked for DuPont), then did some wartime stuff. The "postdoc" as a career stage did not exist at the time, most PhDs went into industry or straight into academic research as a professor. The postdoc, I think is an emergent phenomenon that is resulting from the broader academic bubble, largely fueled by several countries' nationalistic fervor to "produce PhDs" as a measurement of national greatness. The consequences have been quite bad.

Here is an example of a postdoc who went on to do great things:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Lindquist

whoops, I stand corrected. Thank you. He is still a good example of science working well for the world. (even if it is born out of industry)

yup, I completely agree, but I think since that era the structure of science research has changed to the point where examples like him are liable to be few and far between.

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