[nostrademons]

The Ph.D is itself a long process of "doing", where you're apprenticed to an experienced researcher and do his grunt work while you prove yourself capable of original research. Writing a dissertation is work, and it goes along with a lot of unglamorous work (like a research/teaching fellowship).

I never disputed that it's possible to make a living as a "thinker", only that it's realistic to do so without first proving your worth as a "doer". The people who end up in those thinking positions are the ones who manage to slog through the doing.