[dnautics]

while a PhD doesn't carry that much cachet anymore, doesn't that make 'PhD dropout' even worse? Isn't the impression then, that 'You couldn't finish even the lowered standards for the PhD' or 'You couldn't finish what you started' or 'You had the poor judgement to bite off something you couldn't handle'? I suppose the last isn't so bad given that the age that most Americans start grad school is just over 22

[moron4hire]

Actually, I see a lot of value in people who can recognize sunk costs and quit wasting resources, no matter how much they have happened to already waste. We all make mistakes, it's whether or not we choose to continue to make mistakes that is important.

[irollboozers]

I know this sounds like rationalization, but I think we see it more like, "If we're doomed to suffer in a system where everyone is suffering, why not work to try to improve it and fix the problem instead?"

In other words, if we weren't doing this, we would all be in grad school/academia getting PhD's and doing research anyways. This is more a reflection that we're giving up that opportunity in an effort to pay it forward. I would rather 'PhD' to mean something again than to have something that is meaningless.

[crishoj]

Depending on your point of view, 'PhD dropout' could also carry connotations of having sound judgement and the audacity to act accordingly and quit despite doing so being somewhat controversial.

[munin]

is highschool dropout the highest honor of them all then?

[rwallace]

That depends entirely on what you do instead of finishing high school.

[betterunix]

It could just as easily be, "Good thing you were smart enough to get out when you saw a bad thing," "Glad to see someone who sticks to their principles," or, "Let's put those skills you picked up over that 4 year period to use."