Isn’t the questions thread a fun place for this sort of existential discussion? Is anything a waste of time if you’re passionate about it and get some sort of satisfaction from it?
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Isn’t it nice to have this place not be dead again?
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Are you going to take credit for that? 
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Shouldn’t I be out front shaking my cane at the youngsters, telling them to get off @monkeyoh’s lawn?
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Isn’t it true in your field - like it is in mine - that age is less important than when the doctorate was granted? And that the discrimination is against stale degrees, not stale people?
[quote=“tropo, post:3272, topic:76536”]
Is anything a waste of time if you’re passionate about it and get some sort of satisfaction from it?[/quote]
Doesn’t this depend a bit on whether you get paid to go to grad school or whether you are paying out of pocket?
Don’t you find rephrasing stuff as questions sometimes gets a little exhausting?
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While it may overall, don’t I also count being a climbing or ski bum worthwhile pursuits? If you’re alive and doing what you want with your life, shouldn’t that be good enough?
Don’t you find rephrasing stuff as questions sometimes gets a little exhausting?
Would you be surprised if I said, rarely?
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Don’t I find that where people are coming from matters more than what they are doing?
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Is it entirely coming down to where, or is “who you know” a factor as well?
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Don’t I think who you know helps? But don’t I also know that when a department gets over 100 applications for one tenure track job (with a fair amount of reading involved in each) where the applicant matriculated can be a good way to winnow the field a bit? And isn’t it true that since my field is very crowded, that even teaching positions are going to get applicants from “better” schools than mine?
Aren’t I just bitter, maybe?
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So should I assume you’re really passionate about a university tenure track? How much have you looked into how your skill set can benefit other institutions / industries? (Am I pushing too hard? You’ll tell me to drop it if I am, won’t you?)
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Wouldn’t it be fine if I found something else? Does it really matter in the grand scheme of things? Maybe if I can’t find a tenure track job, maybe that really means I’m not good enough to be there?
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Hasn’t this been well-documented in some fields, including yours?
So few? Would you believe that we get anywhere from 4-600 applications for every TT opening, and that this has been the case at least since my own application 25+ years ago (excepting a downward trend in the mid-2000s, up until the crash)?
Isn’t that a bit like saying that if your lottery ticket doesn’t pay off, you aren’t good enough to win the lottery?
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Isn't that a bit like saying that if your lottery ticket doesn't pay off, you aren't good enough to win the lottery?
Isn’t the work I did a little more than buying a lottery ticket?
Shouldn’t I shut up with the “white wine” for the night? Doesn’t no one want to hear it, since I’m already privileged for getting to do some of this for a short while anyway (although I suppose I could have spent this time find a real job that I could actually do)?
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Since I wound up an an Annie bender this evening, can I just leave this here?
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Sorry… didn’t mean to be a jerk…?
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Sure, but doesn’t it play essentially the same role, in that it is the entry ticket to the TT job lottery? And isn’t the reason that your work doesn’t automatically translate into a job the existence of so many others who also have an entry ticket?
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Wasn’t that all on me? Weren’t you just expressing your feelings?
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Shouldn’t I probably just shut it, as it’s bringing the whole room down?
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Is there any reason someone outside of academics should be aware of how completely screwed up the system is? Especially with popular magazines continuing to list “professor” in “top 10 desirable jobs” clickbait pieces, without any clue as to what’s really involved in getting such a job, and how likely it is that a huge investment of time and effort will have no payoff at all, possibly even negative payoff?
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Don’t I feel dumb for thinking I’d be different somehow?
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