[oefrha]

> somehow software engineers, who have to do crazy feats of applied math, manage absurd levels of complexity, deal with ridiculous deadlines...

You should do some research on how much mathematicians and theoretical physicists who actually do crazy feats of applied and/or pure math (as opposed to using some standard library sorting routine and calling that crazy feats of applied math) and put insane hours into incomprehensibly difficult problems get paid. (Granted, there’s seldom immediate effects on economy.) Then you’ll probably feel lucky.

[goatinaboat]

The university won’t go bankrupt because someone’s research didn’t pan out. The lack of any commercial pressure means these jobs are not comparable.

[oefrha]

Gp was arguing about merit vs pay. If you’re going by market forces then lawyers should be paid more, because market has thus far decided that they are.