Who is to judge the merit of their talent? Shouldn’t their results speak for themselves? And prey tell, what are the results of academia in the age of the digital revolution where there is no obligation to complete a university education with the knowledge of its mathematical scientific foundation?

I think many more are drawn to professorship for a sense of status, ie prestige. It shows in their overwhelming mediocrity, eg the failure of economics to progress to a biologically scientific paradigm.