I'm quitting research, because.... - (Jul/07/2013 )

Wouldn't it be a beautiful thing to have a list of all the reasons we choose to quit research after investing 20 years of our lives to become researchers?

Imagine you're writing a brutally honest letter (your Jerry Maquire letter) to all of the gray haired mentors/professors/PIs who just totally ruined science for you.

I'll start the list, but please continue it.

"I'm quitting research, because....

1) ...you can't use Excel.
2) ...you prefer blatantly fraudulent data that supports the simplistic cartoon you drew 30 years ago.
3) ...you convinced me to spend 6 years learning technical skills a high school drop-out can learn.
4) ...you apply for translational research grants.
5) ...you automatically trust the opinion of someone with a high impact paper.
6) ...you refuse to retire.
7) ...you never correct/retract papers you know are horribly flawed.
8) ...you are taking so much public money and wasting it.
9) ...spending any more time in academia will make me unemployable.
10) ...there are too many PhDs being trained and too few permanent positions.
11) ...being the best at what I do will not get me a permanent position.

12)...my supply of idealism and enthusiasm is exhausted.

13) ...late night search for research makes me dizzy....