My Ph.D. was far more than 'just acquiring knowledge', though I did plenty of that.

It is also about advancing the state of all human knowledge. Like what the big tech companies promise that you'll be doing, but without the corrupting element of needed it to be immediately profitable. Much less evil.

A good Ph.D. program should be built on solving a high impact problem. I nailed a few of them, including a couple of medical breakthroughs around some pretty serious diseases. Didn't make any money off of it, but did make a big difference to the world.

And after the Masters, the emphasis is not on 'studying' as much as it is in 'teaching'-- you should be teaching others how to think and approach a problem. Again, potential for massive impact.

I would also feel empty just accumulating for myself. But that's not what Ph.D./post-doc is about. It actually sounds more like getting a job at a FAANG where you are paid megabucks to get 6-yr olds addicted or to destroy the internet or to totally co-op open source.

Touché, and thanks for sharing that perspective.

I chose the entrepreneurial path to societal impact for myself, but you reminded me about that a lot of the basic research we‘re all depending on was done by doctorands and researchers.

And just like entrepreneurs, you‘ve got two kinds of PhDs as well…

Many people (myself included) that get PhDs simply love learning. Solving problems is important but for some there is this inner drive to need to learn and master everything. It doesn't preclude solving problems, but it's the acquisition of knowledge that is the internal engine, not the desire to solve a specific problem.

Yeah. I can’t understand the counterpoint to getting PhDs. Do you not want to find out how the world actually is? It’s a never ending quest too.

Teach at the university! It is incredibly satisfying work.