[harveywi]

Right. It's a lot like deciding to set out on a risky mountaineering expedition where success is determined only by reaching the summit. Along the way, there are numerous pitfalls that can be your undoing regardless of your level of preparation. However, adversarial, abusive, non-cooperative overlords can make it arbitrarily hard, and even impossible, for you to succeed. They get to define what "summit" means and they can move the goalposts at a moment's notice. There is no recourse for you, and there is no oversight.

Playing the game without having benevolent overlords is a fool's errand, but many people do not learn this until it is too late.

One of the most important lessons that can be taken away from grad school [1]: "If you compete, never leave your fate in the hands of the judges. In regular life, never leave your fate in the hands of other people."

[1] https://www.t-nation.com/powerful-words/4-things-you-can-lea...