| "I do it because I'm intellectually curious (aka I like new stuff)" I hear that a lot, and I hear the argument that industry doesn't give you that type of opportunity, but I firmly disagree: in many places, people with bachelors or masters degrees are put in research positions in setups that resemble the Bell Labs of lore. And while most software shops aren't doing new things, a growing number of large firms are exploring new frontiers. (and even some finance firms, god forbid) "a PhD teaches you how to ask the right questions" What you need is a mentor, and a surprising number of people who decided not to do a PhD have the right mindset and actually help train people. "Take this argument too far and you find yourself in theoretical math," Many of the people at the forefront of industry work find themselves delving in theoretical math (as a really oft-cited example, functional programming drawing from category theory) "a lot of smart people tend to do research and PhDs. " A lot of smart people decide that the PhD is heavily bureaucratic and that it would be easier to do more intellectually stimulating work in industry. "I do it because of vanity" Fair enough :) |