After finishing my PhD I went to a university-led session on ‘What Comes Next.’ What I heard sounded a lot like “now, you beg for money.” It was so depressing to think about all the very clever people in that room who had worked so very hard only to find out they had no financial security and would be spending most of their days asking for money. I realized that even what I thought of as the ‘safe path’ was uncertain so I may as well go after what I truly want. That led me here.
This. This I had to see for myself - the money begging approach, the insecure job of 2 or 3 years and then beg for more. I was disheartened with this also. Having a family and the need to be secure, I took my PhD into industry rather than academia. Unfortunately, I didn’t get paid for that extra achievement and feel like I’ve never fully reached my potential. All because I couldn’t get the proper assurance behind the question of, ‘and then what?’. However, getting a PhD is enjoyable and certainly fulfilling. But be prepared to do something different afterwards.
Couldn’t agree more here. I feel somewhat fortunate to have shifted my perspective in pursuing my physics PhD program as a time to learn, have fun, and then move to industry. It’s rather disheartening watching hardworking people pursue the academic dream, while making all kind of sacrifices (both personal and those related to academic politics), just to aim for a position that may or may not work out.
Hearing your story reminded me of that Franz Kafka quote: “I was ashamed of myself when I realized that life was a costume party, and I attended with my real face.” I am glad you stood your ground after all. We need more people like you, and not just in Academia.
At the Time of Franz Kafka There were yet no socialist Euroland countries promoting some bulshit agenda , but it was starting at that time. Global democracy is a scam.
Except that anyone with integrity leaves academia because it is a rotten swamp in which only shrewed and greedy people thrive... The higher up you get in the organization, the less integrity they have. Especially in the highly prestigious institutions. The corruption and self-interest is rife and little to no meaningful science is done anymore, so anyone with integrity leaves. Scientific discovery has almost completed stopped in regards to large discoveries because research there isn't profitable...
There's no good reason to wear a mask and lose your integrity. You can use your actual self, you just need to know your boundaries and have actual confidence.
Any business or undertaking these days is a emotional marathon, and anyone who puts their real self on the starting line will lose the emotionally draining commitment. Kinda the whole reason emotionally dettached people are more successful and why it seems like no one cares in business meetings.
My psycology therapist would say otherwise. Its not the worl that must change for you. I know, a partial minded view but most people would support that claim.
@@AtrozGrima its the easiest to always blame yourself even though you met all the criteria required to not fail, but this claim fails the logic test, so there must be an outside factor that intervened and sabotaged you, and in Sabine's case it's the system. how come a post grad in physics cant find a job in research?? sounds ridiculous to say its her fault after she did everything the system demanded.
The real tragedy is that you almost didn't post this video. People NEED to know what kind of world we live in. This was more valuable than 99% of commencement speeches.
This has always bothered me when I heard about people with masters degree doing work vastly different from what they worked so hard for and I was left wondering most of the time, how is this happening. This was very illuminating and I'm seething.
@@skippy6086 I need an electrician frequently which is why I became one too. I have never needed a physicist and one reason I opted not to study it in college despite it being fascinating.
No offense, but she did a video on why capitalism is awesome not long ago. Many of us have been saying this for years. This is not news to LOTS of people.
Agree. My PhD was made that much harder by the need to sift thru 100’s of bullshit papers (pointless, poor quality and written simply to fish for citations) that Sabine calling it, is very satisfying!
Also a physics PhD. Fighting for funding and fighting against petty administrators pushed me out of experimental condensed matter physics. Now I'm a high school teacher. I applied to corporate jobs but when you are so specialized and the job market is up and down it is really difficult finding work anywhere in the world. I had trouble fitting into the machinery.
As a grad student, I had a professor plagiarize an entire term paper of mine which he used as a chapter in his book. My complaint to him and the department fell on deaf ears. I was told that my worked belonged to the professor because all grad work belonged to the professor who taught me. What a bunch of garbage.
My University (as most in America) expels fraudulent plagiarists, but I've never heard of professors being fired for the same reason. Do you have a link to your original publication online for us to compare his book to?
Dear Sabine, No, you have not failed. That you're not doing the "bs" scientific works doesn't mean that your dream of becoming a scientist failed. You're one of the best scientific minds, and your contribution to the field shouldn't be underestimated. You succeeded. Your dream is being materialized in a bit unique but beautiful way.
Yes Sabine, please keep challenging the status quo and hopefully we will return to caring about true scientific inquiry and not how to milk grant money to stuff institution's pockets.
the greedy swines get their claws into everything, they don't care about what goes on, they are just there for the $$$. And as usual, literally everything and everyone else suffers.
Never doubt yourself in this respect. You've just encountered the true face of the current academic establishment. You spoke nothing but the plain truth not more, not less, unfortunately.
I hate that the caption says you failed. I also had to change careers, my dream also died, but we didn't fail. How is this failing? You reach 1 million people with a video, you love doing this and you adapted to a messed up situation. You use your knowledge to something good and useful and that is more than many people can ever reach.
@@aliceglass828 people have different standards for success I suppose. You could have two noble prizes but if your goal was to cure cancer and you failed, you'd consider yourself a failure, I guess.
That's exactly why I never went back to academia after my master's. It was all about what to do to get that extra grant. Everyone (including myself) was writing bullshit to get grants. I used to want to become a scientist since I was a child. The reality killed that dream for me too... I totally get it.
Same here. Publishing has so much metagaming, that it's not producing good work. My thesis adviser told me to split my paper up into 3-5 papers, publish them separately and have them all cite each other to inflate my impact numbers. I knew academia was bullshit as soon as that was suggested.
The institutions are failing, and in order to save the scientific knowledge to go down with it, we need people teaching straight to the public, and not only the raw science, but all the epistemological nuances around it. You are a brave and inspiring person! Thanks ❤
When the questions you want to find answers to (buy doing science) collide with "will said answers make line go up?" Will your quest to unlock the mysteries of the universe be profitable? Isn't as much "reality" as it is "Capitalism". You, as an individual, might have as much luck changing the laws of physics as you would changing the effects that Capitalism (specifically the profit motive) has on doing science.🤷♂️
But what's the alternative that already exists? Universities have huge issues but they still do focus on topics you'd never see a fully commercialized industry indulge. It is an evil but a lesser evil. What else is there?
I want to push back that it's not token capitualation that results in the glass ceiling for women. And programs that require diversity and representation do not reenforce outdated world views, but I respect feeling frustrated that they are not a comprohensive solution either. I refuse to take away the victories of civil rights champions of the past that forced the hand for those capitulations, even if there is still more work left to do.
This is what turned my away from astronomy as a late teen. In the past few years, I was questioning that decision, but you've confirmed that I made the right one.
I disagree, everything on earth is about making money in some form, so this statement is quite anodyne. There is something else going on in academia besides greed - proof is that everyone who works there is poor.
- Sabine "Capitalism is good, actually" Hossenfelder. One more example of why natural scientists would be well served to occasionally listen to a social scientist.
My dad was a scientist, and I watched his constant struggle with politics and funding. He had a stress-related heart attack at 50; he survived it, but was never the same afterwards.
I'm sorry for your dad! Hope his heart recovering and he takes care of himself better. Nothing is more precious than our health, not even our job or idealism.
As a former PhD candidate now currently working in industry, this really resonates with me so much. Thank you for being so open and honest about your experience. There is a rewarding, worthwhile life to experience beyond academia.
She has been promoting this channel for years dont listen to the narrative she is pushing. She has been ALL about being a youtuber for years now for sure her work has dropped off look at the amount of time she puts in this channel!
A bit too much? this is the worst example of a video this year. Sabine has been pushing this channel at the expense if actual research for years now any science realeated issue on this channel is fraught with innaccurate information and borderline lies.
@@LA_HA It might not matter. It might be comparative literature. The system is so entrenched. The one university president and his/her pet projects may have only slight impact on what is expected and what gets done.
@@wendyleeconnelly2939 True and that's what I'm saying. The choices given in the type of candidates has a lot to say about what is going on within that institution. This is directly tied to what's happening in the PS/K-12 school system. What's happening there? In short, traditional values and education have been replaced with "progressive" values and disinterest in educating school children due to CRT and leftist ideological organizations that openly brag about how they're not in the education business anymore. They're in the political business now and going forward. This is Taught to students, who then go to college, graduate with this mentality and belief system, and then become college employees and professors. The connection is there for anyone who takes a moment to look. Except there's a problem... Thinking isn't taught. In fact, it's banned
@@LA_HAwrong, for instance CRT is a college course. Next progressive values I guess by that you mean critical thinking skills and a focus on S.T.E.M. It’s funny because traditional values and education immediately brings to mind religious schools where if the science doesn’t fit your 1500 year old horror anthology than the science must be wrong. Also what do you mean by traditional education , the humors, leach therapy, miasma, aroma therapy, chiropractors , or maybe phrenology. I am however sorry that conservatives long ago lost in the market place of ideas I just wish you guys would stop trying to sell people on your SECOND lost cause movement. We are not going to go back in time there is a reason progress is the root word of progressive. This time of traditional thinking wasn’t so great by the way most people call it the dark ages where positing a new theory might get you thrown in ye olde gaol maybe just for suggesting a non heliocentric view of the universe.
@@geneduffy [Edited for clarity] Thank you. I'm so glad you did exactly what you did. Otherwise, I would have wasted my time thinking an actual conversation was possible. Good Day
I am a professor but totally understand the terrible rat race. i was once writing an academic book (rather well known one now) but my HoD knocked on my office door one day and told me that the university didn't value scholarship any more. i retired as soon as was financially able to, and moved to Thailand. never been back. Take care, Donald
Sawasdi kap. You and Sab have stumbled into the invisible walls of a technological house of cards. Science is supposed to be a process of discovery where we chose the most accurate way to describe observations, but that depends on who “we” are. We are not what you think we are. We are more like the subjects of the virtual world in the Matrix. Controlled with lies and a brilliant characterization of the world, however, it is built essentially on lies. We struggle not against the flesh, but against spiritual principalities in heaven and hell. It’s all about control, this world. God is. Choke di, farang.
RE: the university didn't value scholarship any more I guess they are looking for foundations for their latest propaganda projects. Research is subordinate to policy. Findings that are contrary to their policies, or their imagined ideal world, is not appreciated.
@@ibubezi7685 I always get a kick out of people who loudly proclaim "all the scientists agree on climate change", as if science was a democracy and the facts should actually care what scientists think.
As someone who's been struggling with the trajectory of my career, I thank you whole heartedly for posting this video. You are an amazingly strong person.
Thank you for your honesty. I have similar experiences in academia. But once one is disillusioned about it, you can focus on things that really matter and not follow the social pressure.
Hi Sabine, I’m a third year PhD student in bioengineering and I just want to say thanks for making this video. You’re the only person who I’ve heard describe exactly how I feel about academia. My dream has died too and most of the time I feel crazy because no one else seems to feel the same way, but thank you for making me feel less alone. You are brave and lovable ❤️
All this makes me happy that I'm "just" a practical nurse (as we call it here in Finland) and never had the drive for academy studies. I'm in a job that I really like and enjoy, even tho money ain't great, no stress etc at all tho :)
I'm in my second year of an evolution/genetics PhD. My lab group and the biology faculty is pretty communal and this sentiment of cynicism is common around us. We're kind of aware this is all one big passion project, and some of us might become rockstars but others are like those Disney channel celebrities who disappear after 5 years and show up working at a small town car dealership. Not sure if anyone's actually considering continuing in academia. A lot are looking at industry or government employment (our department is marine and conservation biology, in a country where seafood and agriculture are major exports).
You've done more for science on RUclips than many have anywhere else in "academia". Keep up the amazing work! This is where you belong. Leading the science 3.0 revolution.
At 65 and working on my second masters,,, NO I didn’t use the first one either, I'll pass on the PhD. Follow your passion, I serve as a volunteer in our local Honey Beekeepers Association teaching beginners and intermediate Beekeepers to be successful with their bees.
Start with some real science and you will NO LONGER STRUGGLE: Vacuum Ambient EM Field Dipole Theory aka Quantum Inertial Dipole Theory aka Graviton Theory aka Dark Mass / Energy Theory aka Vacuum Zero Point Energy Theory aka PLANCK PARTICLE THEORY is T.O.E. postulated by the Germans and brought to fruition by US DoD via Defense Contractors like Lockheed that solved TOE so the Pentagon gave them cart blanche on CASH to designed and build working Quantum Field Densification Drives aka HFGWGs and they solved during technical material science issues during SDI STAR WARS Weapons Programs of the 1980s and 90s and the result is "UAPs" aka Hypersonic Weapons in the news for years! Work EM FIELD DRIVES have been flying for MORE THAN 4 DECADES! Now You Know Too! #FiringRoom1
When I was a grad student, I saw how the brilliant, wonderful postdocs were worn down. Not by their bosses or their science, but by the system. And after 4+ years as postdocs, they were still earning less than brand new public school teachers. We love our science but have to make a living, too.
@@casualnerdjason6678 You have the background for understanding physics now you need to take your knowledge to the edgy side of physics that is making great strides in understanding the workings of our reality. Materialism is as dead as the Big Bang is now. The new frontier is of a Conscious Universe where observation collapses the wave function into particles and atoms which creates matter as we have seen over and over again in the double slit experiments. Good luck on your journey. Remember it is always better to abandon a sinking ship early rather than later.
This matches up exactly with my 16 years at NASA. A colleague of mine called it "playing the doctor game", because all the PhD's were battling each other for the few secure jobs while the majority languished as grantees.
"Science" (Which means "through the knowledge of")...literally means being open to truth, wanting to explore the actual truth and to want to know the truth.
The other one, opposite one (cannot name the term because of the censor), is the desire for money, grants, more grants, desiring to promote a problem rather than a solution to keep a job, propagating biases and being afraid to look in another direction out of fear of being chastised and reprimanded.
This is precisely how The $ystem weeds out scientists w/ character standing on principle vs. those who'll readily sell out (i.e. produce & publish the results The $ystem wants). 😉
I'm a PhD. physicist who never really had any hope of a career in academia. I really appreciate your honesty and telling it like it is. I have always found academia to be pretentious, arrogant, and intellectually stuffy. Thank you for making this video. You've earned my respect.
Hopefully you didn't get a job as a "Calibration Technician" for a company that does NIST certification of equipment. So many physics majors with BS degrees seem to enter that job market.
I was a PhD student, but I only finished with my masters. This was due to the lack of consistency between classes and the PhD exam. They would put problems on there that even the professors could not solve. They had an extra credit point system to wear a few published papers prior to the exam, you would be given credit towards the exam. There was at least one student who never took the exam and passed because they had enough papers within two years. and this is only because the professor was putting that graduate students name on the papers, even though they just started.
Given the system appears to be so broken, and given it’s the people’s money at work, what could the people do to demand change? Does this have to stay broken forever?
@@berniehaberemeier2053 -- Excellent questions! To which I humbly add one more: Is the academic establishment even worth trying to fix, or do we need to replace it with something better?
@@berniehaberemeier2053spreading awareness helps. (Knowing is half the battle) But I've seen various proposals that would change the incentive structure to support good science; rather than Shitposting in scientific journals for grants. As for how to get people to adopt these new incentives? I think things will have to get worse before they get better. People are going to keep doing things just the way they are until they can't anymore.
We need people like you, with integrity, to stand their ground. We do not need more of those spoonfed the required narrative, who quietly agree with the expected beliefs of such establishments and organisations, who demand obedience. Too many know what they are doing or think is wrong, but do it anyway, just to fit in or, remain quiet, thinking of their mortgage or their future retirement. Worldwide that has been the problem for so long. Time for change. Thank you for showing what the word honour truly means. Something no man can give you and no man can take away.
Sabine, you are a friend of science. We all love you. This may not be your dream but you kick ass at it and are affecting humanity on a much larger scale than most other work would allow you to. You have a platform now, 1.2 Million people subscribe to you, believe in you, love you. Overcome the shitty people who have gotten in your way, because they pushed you into this, where you fit so PERFECTLY. Use this to fulfill your dream.
I achieved my PhD in philosophy when I was in my 40s. I'm an ex miner. After graduation, I became a security guard until retirement. My PhD was a classy route to poverty. So I'm glad you posted this. Dr. does look good on my drivers licence.😅
The wife of the US president is also a Doctor. She's a school teacher with a doctorate in education and demands that people refer to her as "Doctor". The title is meaningless.
It takes a lot of courage to post an honest to goodness video like this. I am not a scientist but I follow the science news and I've realized myself that what you talk about here in this video is the reason we've not had a major breakthrough in science in the past 50 years or so. But hopefully more scientists like yourself will speak up and stand up to academia and we'll see some real progress soon.
Yeah, spending days in YT 😂then playing victim card because life isn't easy. But she's not the only one, YT star physicists love to shine, but end up bitter and angry since they don't hand out Nobel prizes for clicks. And calling others bs (the terrible system that gave you free education) is easy, not so easy when its own
Pournelle's Iron Law of Bureaucracy: In any bureaucracy, the people devoted to the benefit of the bureaucracy itself always get in control and those dedicated to the goals the bureaucracy is supposed to accomplish have less and less influence, and sometimes are eliminated entirely.
@@wallacegrommet9343 That's a bit deceptive. Some of those administrators support instruction. Some support research grants. Sabina isn't complaining about research load as much as research priorities.
Thank you for sharing your experiences. Brave people such as yourself need to be honest about the state of physics and academia in order for it to change.
Nice quote, I did not know this. To be fair, in my experience academic management did care about science, in so far as it relates to their own interests at least. Since the issues in academia (and academic publishing) go beyond each individual institution, however, I suppose it's easy to assign blame elsewhere and perpetuate the system rather than even try to change it. This perpetuation is, incidentally of course, also to the personal benefit of academic management.
Thank you for posting this! I am 82, left the US for Germany in 1965, earned my PhD with work at a Max Planck Institute and after a 12 year stint at the MPI I got a pure research position at a major German university. I was an electron microscopist, so a lot of people needed my help. I managed to publish 100+ papers and never had to write a grant proposal. I finally became disillusioned with science in general and just wound up helping others with their research. I also struggled to help my female coworkers get the credit they deserved for the work they did. Science was always more of a hobby for me. I write this just to say, your mileage may vary. I'm sorry you had such a bitter experience, but you have taken the bull by the horns and certainly have a greater scientific impact now than if you had just gone on in research. I love your videos and your sense of humour. Liebe Grüße aus dem kühlen hessischen Vogelsberg.
I believe I had the pleasure of reading one of your papers. Good to see people of science remain around it, even when retired. All the best to you good sir!
I love your honesty. My brother got a PhD in theoretical physics from an Ivy League university and he felt the same way you do. He left academia a while ago and works in software now, but he still does his physics and math research every day in his spare time. I admire him a lot.
And thats why number of patents in Western countries decreased in last years. Chinese mastered it team work long time ago and thrive because of it, while here its all divide and conquer of talented motivated people
@@tatjana7008 What? US issued patents are a historic high. Also the number of patents issued has zero connection with fundamental physics research - the measure is peer reviewed publications.
@@Lavabug first of all, Sabine is not from US, she tells about experience in Germany and Europe. Second, number of confirmed patents is much important then applications, and China leads there. Third, science is interconnected and discoveries in fundamental physics might influence practical applications as well. Thats why I do theoretical computer science, because it can influence every branch of science. About papers and publications, many chairs in my university interconnected with industry, and they often end up in patents.
@@tatjana7008 The US issues more utilities patents than any other country, and many Chinese enterprises seek US patents as well. Practical applications have little to do with fundamental science, they are an accident. If you're using patent number to measure scientific progress, you have no knowledge of how science works or what counts as innovation. Patents only measure commercial products, not the generation of knowledge which far outpaces what patents indicate (I am a former patent examiner).
Unfortunately, this IS a universal story in academia. It's the dirty little secret that never seems to be talked about. Despite all that, I'm glad you have found a place for yourself and choose to share your thoughts and opinions with us all. Thank you for putting this video out!
It is spoken about, but those outside the system .. do not get heard. Listen carefully to what she says. While a bit harsh to say, she *did* know what they were doing was wrong, and she played along with it, until they bit her.
Fenomenal true exposed. Dear Sabine you are so great, worry do not, you have imense quality and you are an exceptional person. The reward will come and one day you will be happy with the output, I am sure you are happy with what you are doing now and be pleased cause it is giving you satisfaction, you do very nice, it is another road in your career. One foot on the back one step ahead. Many people know your works and they follow your career and path and they like you the way you are.
It's not really a dirty little secret. There are lots of ways to observe it, even as an undergrad if you work in someone's lab, some people who will confess especially if you ask the right questions, maybe not in physics departments because physicists have that personality. Sabine came from a family of accountants, they had some idea that money makes the world go round. Although the exact nature of academic research is something you have to experience it to understand. An outsider who doesn't know the field at an expert level won't know how much garbage is produced that serves merely to clog up the intellectual pipeline.
@@ronankelly4471 I don't know if I can blame Sabine though, she is but a human like us, and human need food on the table, especially for their family. I would like to imagine Scientist are just normal people who aren't particularly noble, nor should we expect them to be.
You have not failed, "The System" is failing us all. Thank you Sabine for trying to broaden our horizons. Hopefully this brave outreach will start some meaningful conversation.
The sad part is that "the system" is made up of us, the academic people. We prioritize money, greed, and power, and in turn, make the life of other lower-level people miserable. Then, we blame "the system".
Same with NGO's honestly. A lot of people, social sciences degrees and similar stuff, who are so passionate to work with communities, with underpriviliged people, to try to approach existing issues with new techniques, are absolutely annihilated by the grant-money procedure. Just write billions of pages of bullshit, measure absolute irrelevant stats, write mind-numbing reports, and end up wasting 75% of your energy and time on all of this, and only 25% actually doing what you want to do and are actually applying for funding.
The really important part is that forum cretins will keep parroting "Peer reviews!" when such "trusted" institutions don't even have the minimal digital literacy, and I mean Harvards, too. Total rebuilding of scholarship is inevitable.
The sad part is that the system is made up of us, the academic people; we prioritize money, greed, and power, and in turn, make the life of other lower-level people miserable. Then, we blame the system.
Near the end of my PhD, my advisor wanted me to take a paper I wrote for PRL and write a longer one for PRC and I told him I didn't feel like there was really anything more to say for our work. I later felt bad as he ended up not getting tenure which left me in a weird state as I finished my degree without a local advisor and thus no advocate or mentor at the university. I ended up set loose as soon as the paperwork was signed on my diploma. I ended up like a lot of physicists, working in finance, and after getting married and having two children, there really wasn't any going back. Plus the realization that my notion of what academia is like was really, like yours, more of a romantic dream rather than the reality. I don't really miss academia, I miss what I thought academia was supposed to be.
How did you made your skills as a physicist applicable to finance? It’s obviously transferable to those that know but employers don’t always fall under that category
@@EyanZ1997 Well, in the mid-1990s when I finished, that was not really true. Physicists were desirable for implementing numerical models, especially if they had software skill. Since I worked for two years in software before grad school, and did a lot of modeling in grad school, it was an easy sell.
The magic of youtube algorithm bought you to me. Thank you for this lovely video. After finishing my PhD, I was on the academia path. I spent 2 years as a research assistant professor and realize that University treats us like business units. The overhead is over 50% of the grant. They also make you teach or otherwise there is another penalty. It was miserable. I am glad that I have gotten out sooner than later.
You lasted longer than I did... finished my PhD (having survived broken bones, deaths, years overseas research, changes in Committee, and a mother who said, "...but you are still unmarried") I quit academia and moved to Italy to milk cows and make wine. Now I write novels. I do miss the intellectualism. but not the politics. Love you, Sabine!
Very interesting! Thanks for sharing. I took a gap year between getting my bachelor’s and going to graduate school. It’s now been a five-year gap year because I thought better of it after meeting lots of people already in the meat grinder. I sometimes wonder where my career would be, but I’ve found myself on a path more interesting and worthwhile to me.
@@Weberbros1 heck yeah! Thanks! Rachel Hoffman, SALTINE (Otis Books, 2021) No self-help, no politics, no trauma: just humor and humanity for smart adults who need a mental vacation...
Glad you left the ending in; that sums up everything you said in one sentence. _"Societal pressures too often make me unable to speak, but here at least I can choose what I say."_
We will in fact, never know if Sabine can actually choose what she can say on RUclips until the point she get’s regularly de-monetised or de-platformed. Rumble is where she’d be if in fact she did want to comment in a non-RUclips compliant way. Sabine is simply just operating in a field that is less socio-politically contentious. She’s far too intelligent to imagine her sitting in Plato’s cage with her back to the light, which makes that final statement very puzzling. Rather than underscoring her position, it undermines the viewer’s confidence that she truly understands the assaults on freedom of thought and expression and journalistic investigation that so very very many are experiencing right now.
The fact that this statement is apparently no longer in the video is incredibly suspicious. I assume Sabine was either was forced to edit it or did so out of concern that those "societal pressures" were going to come to bear on her.
Agree 100%, Sabine. It's more about grant $ than research outcomes in higher ed. Glad you're doing your own thing. No one can take that away from you, and of course, you have us always!
Speaking as retired full professor (social sciences) at a research university in the in USA I fully support your decision. You play a vital role as a public intellectual helping to educate non-specialists about the state of scientific inquiry in the physical sciences. Your RUclips videos reach many more people - several orders of magnitude - than typical research publications read by a handful of specialists. So I say Bravo! Keep up the good work.
@@lighthousesaunders7242 "Respected Popperian" bro hardly any academics of philosophy take Popper seriously. But yes, if you take Popper seriously, then you have to reject sociology and economics, and some of biology and climatology would also be on shaky grounds.
I was married to a PhD, and everything you spoke about here rings true to what I experienced during that time... we're certainly better off with eyes open, doing what actually makes us happy now, aren't we? More power to you, Sabine!
Dear Dr. Hossenfelder, dear Sabine, I am a marine biologist from The Netherlands and active in academia. You echoed all my frustrations about our world. Thank you for speaking your mind ❤. I too challenge my peers by asking whether they really think they're going to change the world or simply keeping themselves in business. The result: denial, or better termed cognitive dissonance. I too dream of a youtube career, but I suck at it 😅. Best of luck to you, Sabine, and thank you for your wonderful videos.
Also a retired academic. I had decent employment, was intellectually challenged, had more free time to accomplish what I wanted than I ever would have found in any other job, but at the same time was always disappointed by the lack of collegiality and any sense of cohesiveness in the department. The milieu - populated with tremendous egos, some earned, some not so much - made for a very lonely existence. I did my research, taught my courses and went home, spending as little time on campus as possible. There were very few friends to be found in such a environment. I loved my students - the only real saving grace. Thanks for your videos.
Hey, sad to hear that. This sounds like bad luck, but you are definitly not alone. I build a new team at a company, interviewed many phd‘s. The easiest way to get them excited, was telling them that they would work with others on a common goal. I could literally see the spark in their eyes, as if they saw light for the first time after 3 years. I myself got lucky, my time during my phd was great. Insanenly interesting topic, bde ent success in my work and outstanding colleges.
The only way to get a sense of cohesiveness was to threaten to merge the department... the only time Architects seem to get along is when you suggest that the department might be replaced with a double degree of Arts and Engineering.
Thank you for being honest. This was the main theme in the movie "the Whale". Every one is so afraid to be honest. But it offers a beautiful reflection of ourselves to see the struggles others have been through. "Admiration is our polite recognition of another's resemblance of ourselves". - Ambrose Bierce "We never remark any passion or principle in others, of which in some degree or other, we may not find a parallel in ourselves". - Hume Thank you for your story..
I'm a gardener with a lay interest in physics. Gardening is no bullshit in an otherwise cynical world. It makes for good health both physical and mental. I already had enough bullshit as an undergrad. The boffins careened off into ideological space and lost touch with the natural world, and all the brain-work made me depressed, so I started digging holes, moving rocks and planting shrubs, and this is a much happier place. I'm glad you escaped that miserable, dishonest path and took the path of truth. It is an inspiring story, and I'm a big fan. Most inspiring comments section here, too.
Actually, it's worse than that. There are other parts of the system that she hasn't yet looked at closely enough to realise how rotten they are. Most people don't reset their expectations for the parts they can't see to keep in line with the parts they can.
FWIW Sabine: I decided to be a medical doctor at the age of four. Spent my life in the pursuit of that dream, qualified, and all of my adult life has been dedicated to that calling - I've been pretty bloody good at it. But here's the rub - I hated every minute here in the UK, it's been that horrible. In my mid 50's I 'stressed out', I'm now at a complete loss and thoroughly regret all those lost years. If it helps you are not alone. Better yet, you've found something genuinely worthwhile to do that doesn't render what you did before wasted effort.
What you said reminded me, a veteran in the USA, of a visit to a doctor at the VA. He said to me . . . "You know why I came to work for the VA?" Then he said "Because at the VA, it is not like being a normal civilian doctor, because of the constant pressure to make profits." That told me all I needed to know about seeing any doctors outside of the VA here in the USA.
Sabine- nice to know I’m not alone. Same thing happened to me in a different discipline. But when the PhD work made me disillusioned I pivoted to MD. Now, at the end of my career doing work that I’ve loved, the corporate sharks have taken over (in the US) and I’m getting out. So Charles, I can sympathize brother. It seems the common thread is the drive for money. As much as I loathed the hold religion had on our world in the past, at least it acknowledged mammon as bad. Maybe our kids can get it right because our generation has sure made a mess of things.
I just discovered your channel today watching your commentary on String theory and its history. I love your videos and they’ve reminded me why I find physics so fascinating. You’re brilliant and I think you’re serving humanity and your mental health much better by bringing these issues and concepts you love to an audience who appreciates your passion more than some stuffy asshats on a review board.
Thank you for pointing it out! Really needs to be heared. I think another sick part of academia is the paper producing machinery itself: Taxpaid scientists writing papers after papers to get grants on the one side. Greedy publishing companies like Elsevier on the other - exploiting the scientists' need to publish, not paying them for their contributions to journals - and then selling the overpriced journals back to (again tax funded) libraries. Even writing about it leaves me enraged - and in admiration for the criminal genious of the business model
Post doc here. Your experience is all too relatable. You've touched on one of my biggest gripes about academia - It's not just the job insecurity/funding that's the issue - it's that it seems to support the worst kind of people in positions of power. I also understand your reservations about posting this since academia is full of adult children perpetually ready for a Witch hunt. Anyone who thinks academia is operating sustainably is kidding themselves. For context, I've just worked three back to back three month contracts. I'm currently working FOR FREE under the suggestion that "more money might become available soon... but also please keep working because it might bring in significant IP for the University and it's good for your career." It's so nice to see you made it out and are kicking ass. Cheers.
This is the kind of stuff that scares me to hell! I'm a PhD student, and will soon have to face what you're going through and I really don't think I'll survive it; but I also don't know what to do! I've thought about quitting so many times!
@raymondraillery take a lot of this with a pinch of salt. Job security is definitely an issue for post-docs, as its the unfortunate nature of the job. However, the rest is personal preference and opinions.
I am glad you posted the video! As a female academic approaching retirement (and not with a pension), I can definitely relate to what you experienced. With 24,614 comments as of my posting, it is unlikely that you will see this, but THANK YOU.
So nice of you to share this, it was the right thing to do. Your experience is valid. Thank you. More people need to truly listen and understand the depth of this. The gatekeepers limit science.
You are my hero, Sabine! I used to criticize you making vblogs that are not physics related. However, after your explanation in this video, I am absolutely OK with whatever topic you want to cover from now on. You are a true scientist. 👍👍👍
I agree with you entirely. I walked away from this weird world of writing papers in 1971, utterly deceived by the rat race of the conflict between publishing and keeping things secret to prevent someone else publishing before you. Expanding human knowledge was not the priority - it was just an immoral competition for grant money.
I attempted my PhD starting in 2019 at a federal research institute and was shocked to find what Sabine is talking about. Dozens of smart people working as PhD students, post docs or engineers were repackaging the same old data they produced years ago or followed outdated ideas with seemingly no use just for the sake of writing papers. The people there knew the absurdity of the situation but the need for money and job security overshadowed everything else. Finally after two years that shattered my scientific curiosity I broke out of that madness, cancelled my PhD position and left the academic world.
Unlike you it dawned on me in my final year In college, that whilst I had adored science from my childhood, it was a career that I could not afford to chase for the rest of my adult life. Though the bug has never left me, today as I approach my 80th, year, real science education has become so accessible, thanks to you, and many like you on the net. Your wide variety subject matters, dispensed in your unique presentation style, I find educational and repeatedly amusing. Keep up the good work Sabine and stay true to your beliefs.
I for one am very glad that you're doing RUclips video - an honest trade, one you're extremely good at, and with a significant positive impact on the world. I'm a former academic (computer science). There are small pockets of legitimacy in my field, but it's mostly what you describe: bandwagons, bogus conferences and journals, and a shared unspoken agreement not to call BS on things, as long as the grant money is coming in.
It truly is ghastly, though I've spent a horrific amount of time reading through epidemiological studies in food and health science so I'm a bit biased. Sometimes the most basic critical thinking can rule out the conclusions of well-cited research papers, but it gets published anyway because you don't get that sweet sweet grant money otherwise, and nobody actually cares anyway. They're just people with jobs who are afraid to lose their jobs.
Hi Sabine. My name is Mihai, i am an archaeologist with close to two decades in the industry. Tonight, I had a few pints with a friend of mine and we where talking about the same sh1tshow in our industry, academic and commercial. Your channel is a breath of fresh air and a good place to learn. Thank you for your time and effort and for this video, particularly.
... that's why I am unemployed and enjoy my life and time by learning what I want, doing recreational sports, taking strolls in the park, watching documentaries and gaming. Everything government tries to get me into work will only lead to the government paying three times more for me than it does now. I am definitely not prostituting myself in fake,-science and fake-research. To you I wish the best - and to enjoy yourself as much or even more as I do in my position. I did not choose it but rather got shifted into it...but AI adapted and now like it very much... especially because now I know what I avoided without even knowing it back then.
@@chillfluencerthere's a bit of a difference between me, who works for a living and pays taxes and, if you live off of government assistance, meant to be a support for people who NEED OT FOR WHATEVER REASON, you... If you live of of your personal savings, I can't tell you how to live your life and spend your money. If you are on the public support, get off your effing ass and get a job, you prick.
Just wanted to say posting this video was the right thing to do. Thanks for sharing something so personal but so relevant in today’s discussion about academia.
Female biologist over 40 from Germany here. That's exactly how I see it. Not only from my own experience, but also from that of many acquaintances. At the beginning, you're quite happy that you can do what you like without being bothered. By the time you write your thesis at the latest, you realize the difficulties of the system that you describe. I was also irritated by the inaccuracy with which results are produced, at least in biology. As soon as you are in the system, you also see the incompetence (technical, organizational, human) of other researchers. I often had the impression that some were simply in the right place at the right time and were just willing to play along with this application circus. As a woman, it's particularly difficult if you want to start a family. It's hardly possible without help, including financial help, from grandparents. I know some who have made it at least some way, but only with the help of their parents. Yes, the system is weak. I've seen many excellent young researchers leave because they didn't want to play this game. Nevertheless, I have also met nice, very competent colleagues who have made it - but very few.
You're supposed to be able to have a husband bring you, the mother the resources to give birth and raise your child. We have always been able to do this until the petrol dollar was invented and bankers realized they would need more workers or the system would crash too soon. One parent gets the resources and contributes to society. The other parent raises the child and contributes to your family. Corporations have demanded that both parents be tapped for work and our children have suffered dearly for it. In Ireland it's actually in their constitution that should this ever happen they have a right to dissolve the gov and start over(should a mother ever be forced to work in order to raise her child as this is the entire point of society, we know we can make a society where only one parent needs to work and so any society where 2 must is a failure and they KNEW THIS). I don't think they enforce it or they just give welfare checks to them. Regardless, only serfs and indentured servants were made to have mothers work. We have been enslaved and told it was empowering.
Sabine, this was not "too much," as you said. It helped me. I just quit a job after 23 years of international travel, and I really synch up with what you said about the travel and the psychological displacement from one's own life. It took a massive toll on me, and I'm a single man without the reproductive priorities and family needs that you had. Even so, depression, broken relationships, and a sense of not belonging anywhere became chronic and damaging, not to mention the constant jet-lag and the lack of appreciation. And like you, I noticed that my institution primarily served to perpetuate itself, not do good work. Thanks for posting this! I think you did the right thing, and I finally did too.
Awesome, and I can totally relate. After 20 years in corporate business, and therefore sustaining it, three years ago my conscience had enough. I quit, changed my life around and became a professional gardener. Best decision ever. You will find your path, I’m sure. All the best 🧘🏻🤘🏻
Oh Sabine, this breaks my heart. If I was there I'd give you a big hug, because it's so hard to see your dream die. No, it's not a bit too much, and I wish the world of physics research would change so you could do the work you love.
Наука
After finishing my PhD I went to a university-led session on ‘What Comes Next.’ What I heard sounded a lot like “now, you beg for money.” It was so depressing to think about all the very clever people in that room who had worked so very hard only to find out they had no financial security and would be spending most of their days asking for money. I realized that even what I thought of as the ‘safe path’ was uncertain so I may as well go after what I truly want. That led me here.
This. This I had to see for myself - the money begging approach, the insecure job of 2 or 3 years and then beg for more.
I was disheartened with this also. Having a family and the need to be secure, I took my PhD into industry rather than academia. Unfortunately, I didn’t get paid for that extra achievement and feel like I’ve never fully reached my potential. All because I couldn’t get the proper assurance behind the question of, ‘and then what?’.
However, getting a PhD is enjoyable and certainly fulfilling. But be prepared to do something different afterwards.
Couldn’t agree more here. I feel somewhat fortunate to have shifted my perspective in pursuing my physics PhD program as a time to learn, have fun, and then move to industry. It’s rather disheartening watching hardworking people pursue the academic dream, while making all kind of sacrifices (both personal and those related to academic politics), just to aim for a position that may or may not work out.
Find a job in applying your knowledge.
I just finished middle school and wanted to be a physicist, now I'm rethinking my dreams
Hearing your story reminded me of that Franz Kafka quote:
“I was ashamed of myself when I realized that life was a costume party, and I attended with my real face.” I am glad you stood your ground after all. We need more people like you, and not just in Academia.
Excellent quote.
At the Time of Franz Kafka There were yet no socialist Euroland countries promoting some bulshit agenda , but it was starting at that time. Global democracy is a scam.
Except that anyone with integrity leaves academia because it is a rotten swamp in which only shrewed and greedy people thrive... The higher up you get in the organization, the less integrity they have. Especially in the highly prestigious institutions. The corruption and self-interest is rife and little to no meaningful science is done anymore, so anyone with integrity leaves. Scientific discovery has almost completed stopped in regards to large discoveries because research there isn't profitable...
There's no good reason to wear a mask and lose your integrity. You can use your actual self, you just need to know your boundaries and have actual confidence.
Any business or undertaking these days is a emotional marathon, and anyone who puts their real self on the starting line will lose the emotionally draining commitment. Kinda the whole reason emotionally dettached people are more successful and why it seems like no one cares in business meetings.
"The bureaucracy must expand to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy."
No, Sabine, you have not failed, its the system that have failed you.
Unfortunately it's still people that suffer, not the system.
My psycology therapist would say otherwise. Its not the worl that must change for you. I know, a partial minded view but most people would support that claim.
No she failed.
@@AtrozGrima its the easiest to always blame yourself even though you met all the criteria required to not fail, but this claim fails the logic test, so there must be an outside factor that intervened and sabotaged you, and in Sabine's case it's the system. how come a post grad in physics cant find a job in research?? sounds ridiculous to say its her fault after she did everything the system demanded.
The real tragedy is that you almost didn't post this video. People NEED to know what kind of world we live in. This was more valuable than 99% of commencement speeches.
I am the 422nd person that liked your post.
I gave up physics to become an electrician. ZERO REGRETS. 👍
This has always bothered me when I heard about people with masters degree doing work vastly different from what they worked so hard for and I was left wondering most of the time, how is this happening. This was very illuminating and I'm seething.
@@skippy6086 I need an electrician frequently which is why I became one too. I have never needed a physicist and one reason I opted not to study it in college despite it being fascinating.
No offense, but she did a video on why capitalism is awesome not long ago. Many of us have been saying this for years. This is not news to LOTS of people.
Your willingness to call 'bullshit' by its name is one of the reasons I watch your channel. Hats off, carry on!
Its a good way to make money.
@@paintspot1509 it's an excellent way to be truthful..
Agree. My PhD was made that much harder by the need to sift thru 100’s of bullshit papers (pointless, poor quality and written simply to fish for citations) that Sabine calling it, is very satisfying!
This
@@enemdisk6628 BS is a name.
Welcome to am. Engl
Also a physics PhD. Fighting for funding and fighting against petty administrators pushed me out of experimental condensed matter physics. Now I'm a high school teacher. I applied to corporate jobs but when you are so specialized and the job market is up and down it is really difficult finding work anywhere in the world. I had trouble fitting into the machinery.
A place where I worked, 3 of the software developers had Physics PhDs. Only so many places for them in research really when you think about it.
Sabine, a brilliant summary of a common PhD experience. Much like my own. Thank you for pulling back the curtain.
Sabine, she is damn right
I did a PhD. The main finding of the work was that PhDs are a waste of time (which wasn't actually a new finding).
@@JupiterThunderit just keep the wheel turning and you learn a lot in the process like what drugs work best to write XD
As a grad student, I had a professor plagiarize an entire term paper of mine which he used as a chapter in his book. My complaint to him and the department fell on deaf ears. I was told that my worked belonged to the professor because all grad work belonged to the professor who taught me. What a bunch of garbage.
Holy Sh!t… does this mean that plagiarism is a feature and not a bug of the academic landscape?!?!🤬😳
Did you get any credit/mention in References as a contributing graduate student?
That's absolutely crazy! Surely that would be illegal??
My University (as most in America) expels fraudulent plagiarists, but I've never heard of professors being fired for the same reason. Do you have a link to your original publication online for us to compare his book to?
@@freshmanenglishhelp None at all
Dear Sabine, No, you have not failed. That you're not doing the "bs" scientific works doesn't mean that your dream of becoming a scientist failed. You're one of the best scientific minds, and your contribution to the field shouldn't be underestimated. You succeeded. Your dream is being materialized in a bit unique but beautiful way.
Thanks for the kind words, really appreciate that. It makes it all worthwhile. ❤️
Yes Sabine, please keep challenging the status quo and hopefully we will return to caring about true scientific inquiry and not how to milk grant money to stuff institution's pockets.
I hope you’re making some of them youtube bucks at least Sabine. Keep em coming.
@@SabineHossenfelderit sounds to me that the academics failed you
the greedy swines get their claws into everything, they don't care about what goes on, they are just there for the $$$. And as usual, literally everything and everyone else suffers.
Never doubt yourself in this respect. You've just encountered the true face of the current academic establishment. You spoke nothing but the plain truth not more, not less, unfortunately.
I hate that the caption says you failed. I also had to change careers, my dream also died, but we didn't fail. How is this failing? You reach 1 million people with a video, you love doing this and you adapted to a messed up situation. You use your knowledge to something good and useful and that is more than many people can ever reach.
"He got angry, and I laughed at him..."
I love it.
❤
My respect for you hit a new high when I heard you say that!
My admiration for Sabine shot up 10-fold when she said that (and it was already very high)! I wish more people had her guts.
Probably the most german part of this video. Loved it.
Literally iconic
"I am failed", something we rarely hear on social media, while everyone tells success stories here. Bold statement
Hi failed, I'm dad
@@gregh5061 Hi dad and failed, I'm Sigma DeLigma
failed is a bold statement indeed given she has a phd and raised two children
@@aliceglass828 people have different standards for success I suppose. You could have two noble prizes but if your goal was to cure cancer and you failed, you'd consider yourself a failure, I guess.
@@gregh5061 no shit sherlock
I didn't expect to hear "my" story being told by someone else on youtube! Thank you for being so brave!
She is absolutely spot on. And kudos for putting your kids first. We need more Sabines.
That's exactly why I never went back to academia after my master's. It was all about what to do to get that extra grant. Everyone (including myself) was writing bullshit to get grants. I used to want to become a scientist since I was a child. The reality killed that dream for me too... I totally get it.
Same here. Publishing has so much metagaming, that it's not producing good work. My thesis adviser told me to split my paper up into 3-5 papers, publish them separately and have them all cite each other to inflate my impact numbers. I knew academia was bullshit as soon as that was suggested.
You did the right thing.
The institutions are failing, and in order to save the scientific knowledge to go down with it, we need people teaching straight to the public, and not only the raw science, but all the epistemological nuances around it. You are a brave and inspiring person! Thanks ❤
When the questions you want to find answers to (buy doing science) collide with "will said answers make line go up?"
Will your quest to unlock the mysteries of the universe be profitable? Isn't as much "reality" as it is "Capitalism".
You, as an individual, might have as much luck changing the laws of physics as you would changing the effects that Capitalism (specifically the profit motive) has on doing science.🤷♂️
But what's the alternative that already exists? Universities have huge issues but they still do focus on topics you'd never see a fully commercialized industry indulge. It is an evil but a lesser evil. What else is there?
Thank you for sharing Sabine, we love you!
Yeah!! we do! ;))
My thoughts exactly!!
Me too ❤
Thank you Sabine! You are a great educator and human being.
I want to push back that it's not token capitualation that results in the glass ceiling for women.
And programs that require diversity and representation do not reenforce outdated world views, but I respect feeling frustrated that they are not a comprohensive solution either.
I refuse to take away the victories of civil rights champions of the past that forced the hand for those capitulations, even if there is still more work left to do.
This is what turned my away from astronomy as a late teen. In the past few years, I was questioning that decision, but you've confirmed that I made the right one.
Well I didn't turned away from astronomy
I have a lot of respect for you. Keep up the good work.
"The moment you put people into big institutions, the goal shifts from knowledge discovery to money-making" is the key quote of this video.
No, the goal shifts to "sustain the institution (aka bureaucracy)".
@@Frank-ej8hd which mostly involves making money to be fair
Uh Sabine, pensions and health benefits, are very important to "normal" American working ppl too. 😂
I disagree, everything on earth is about making money in some form, so this statement is quite anodyne. There is something else going on in academia besides greed - proof is that everyone who works there is poor.
- Sabine "Capitalism is good, actually" Hossenfelder.
One more example of why natural scientists would be well served to occasionally listen to a social scientist.
My dad was a scientist, and I watched his constant struggle with politics and funding. He had a stress-related heart attack at 50; he survived it, but was never the same afterwards.
it's sad that happened to your dad
“Was”, did he retire or quit? And I’m sorry your dad was out through that kind of stress..
That is so sad! Im so sorry for your dad
@@margarethamaartje3716 perhaps he died.
I'm sorry for your dad! Hope his heart recovering and he takes care of himself better. Nothing is more precious than our health, not even our job or idealism.
As a former PhD candidate now currently working in industry, this really resonates with me so much. Thank you for being so open and honest about your experience. There is a rewarding, worthwhile life to experience beyond academia.
I'm glad you are here as yourself than somewhere else trying to fit in. That would have sucked for all of us.
My jaw dropped. That was a very powerful testimony.
Hahaha we exist 😂😂😂 .....
@@user-ec3rm9wr1nwho?
No real news though.. Its how it works
@@andersfant4997 this may be obvious to insiders. But it was news to me
@@andersfant4997 if you were trans and rich and your father is billionaire things would be different
A bit too much? Perhaps the best video of the year. Thank you for being you, Sabine. - Sacramento, USA
Best video in the channel, IMO.
Bringing the issues to light is one small step towards the possibility of changing them in the future.
She has been promoting this channel for years dont listen to the narrative she is pushing. She has been ALL about being a youtuber for years now for sure her work has dropped off look at the amount of time she puts in this channel!
you sweet summer child@@eclectictech
A bit too much? this is the worst example of a video this year. Sabine has been pushing this channel at the expense if actual research for years now any science realeated issue on this channel is fraught with innaccurate information and borderline lies.
Your scientific integrity and joy are touching. You make a big difference as a scientist and as a woman.
As an ex-researcher for a German uni institute, your description of how the system works was spot on.
"The moment you put people into big institutions the goal shifts from knowledge seeking to money making." Very well said.
What is the background of the university president? Is it Philosophy or Education-focused?
Or is it Business-centered?
@@LA_HA It might not matter. It might be comparative literature. The system is so entrenched. The one university president and his/her pet projects may have only slight impact on what is expected and what gets done.
@@wendyleeconnelly2939 True and that's what I'm saying. The choices given in the type of candidates has a lot to say about what is going on within that institution.
This is directly tied to what's happening in the PS/K-12 school system. What's happening there?
In short, traditional values and education have been replaced with "progressive" values and disinterest in educating school children due to CRT and leftist ideological organizations that openly brag about how they're not in the education business anymore. They're in the political business now and going forward.
This is Taught to students, who then go to college, graduate with this mentality and belief system, and then become college employees and professors.
The connection is there for anyone who takes a moment to look. Except there's a problem...
Thinking isn't taught. In fact, it's banned
@@LA_HAwrong, for instance CRT is a college course. Next progressive values I guess by that you mean critical thinking skills and a focus on S.T.E.M. It’s funny because traditional values and education immediately brings to mind religious schools where if the science doesn’t fit your 1500 year old horror anthology than the science must be wrong. Also what do you mean by traditional education , the humors, leach therapy, miasma, aroma therapy, chiropractors , or maybe phrenology. I am however sorry that conservatives long ago lost in the market place of ideas I just wish you guys would stop trying to sell people on your SECOND lost cause movement. We are not going to go back in time there is a reason progress is the root word of progressive. This time of traditional thinking wasn’t so great by the way most people call it the dark ages where positing a new theory might get you thrown in ye olde gaol maybe just for suggesting a non heliocentric view of the universe.
@@geneduffy [Edited for clarity] Thank you. I'm so glad you did exactly what you did. Otherwise, I would have wasted my time thinking an actual conversation was possible.
Good Day
I am a professor but totally understand the terrible rat race. i was once writing an academic book (rather well known one now) but my HoD knocked on my office door one day and told me that the university didn't value scholarship any more. i retired as soon as was financially able to, and moved to Thailand. never been back. Take care, Donald
thailand? is that not a dangerousplaceto be for a white man?
Sawasdi kap. You and Sab have stumbled into the invisible walls of a technological house of cards. Science is supposed to be a process of discovery where we chose the most accurate way to describe observations, but that depends on who “we” are. We are not what you think we are. We are more like the subjects of the virtual world in the Matrix. Controlled with lies and a brilliant characterization of the world, however, it is built essentially on lies. We struggle not against the flesh, but against spiritual principalities in heaven and hell. It’s all about control, this world. God is. Choke di, farang.
RE: the university didn't value scholarship any more
I guess they are looking for foundations for their latest propaganda projects. Research is subordinate to policy. Findings that are contrary to their policies, or their imagined ideal world, is not appreciated.
@@elbuggo _"101% of sociologists confirm that their research proves that climate-change is 102% manmade."_
@@ibubezi7685 I always get a kick out of people who loudly proclaim "all the scientists agree on climate change", as if science was a democracy and the facts should actually care what scientists think.
As someone who's been struggling with the trajectory of my career, I thank you whole heartedly for posting this video. You are an amazingly strong person.
Thank you for your honesty. I have similar experiences in academia. But once one is disillusioned about it, you can focus on things that really matter and not follow the social pressure.
Hi Sabine, I’m a third year PhD student in bioengineering and I just want to say thanks for making this video. You’re the only person who I’ve heard describe exactly how I feel about academia. My dream has died too and most of the time I feel crazy because no one else seems to feel the same way, but thank you for making me feel less alone. You are brave and lovable ❤️
Same, while it sucks I hope you also value that you figured it out early in your academic career and not a decade and a half later….
damn I'm just about to go into bioengineering😭
All this makes me happy that I'm "just" a practical nurse (as we call it here in Finland) and never had the drive for academy studies. I'm in a job that I really like and enjoy, even tho money ain't great, no stress etc at all tho :)
@@ramseygo121 it's fine, but do it for industry, not academia.
I'm in my second year of an evolution/genetics PhD. My lab group and the biology faculty is pretty communal and this sentiment of cynicism is common around us. We're kind of aware this is all one big passion project, and some of us might become rockstars but others are like those Disney channel celebrities who disappear after 5 years and show up working at a small town car dealership. Not sure if anyone's actually considering continuing in academia. A lot are looking at industry or government employment (our department is marine and conservation biology, in a country where seafood and agriculture are major exports).
I just loved it when you said NO to work for that professor, THATS what I call true integrity 🤩
Yeah big balls for that, props.
@@Broken_robot1986 yes, pukaaluwo
Science is Dead, only China and Russia care about it.
that was definitely baller. absolutely nothing unreasonable either.
You've done more for science on RUclips than many have anywhere else in "academia". Keep up the amazing work! This is where you belong. Leading the science 3.0 revolution.
At 65 and working on my second masters,,, NO I didn’t use the first one either, I'll pass on the PhD. Follow your passion, I serve as a volunteer in our local Honey Beekeepers Association teaching beginners and intermediate Beekeepers to be successful with their bees.
As a scientist struggling with the broken academic science system, I resonate with all that she said and it's totally spot on
Start with some real science and you will NO LONGER STRUGGLE: Vacuum Ambient EM Field Dipole Theory aka Quantum Inertial Dipole Theory aka Graviton Theory aka Dark Mass / Energy Theory aka Vacuum Zero Point Energy Theory aka PLANCK PARTICLE THEORY is T.O.E. postulated by the Germans and brought to fruition by US DoD via Defense Contractors like Lockheed that solved TOE so the Pentagon gave them cart blanche on CASH to designed and build working Quantum Field Densification Drives aka HFGWGs and they solved during technical material science issues during SDI STAR WARS Weapons Programs of the 1980s and 90s and the result is "UAPs" aka Hypersonic Weapons in the news for years! Work EM FIELD DRIVES have been flying for MORE THAN 4 DECADES! Now You Know Too! #FiringRoom1
When I was a grad student, I saw how the brilliant, wonderful postdocs were worn down. Not by their bosses or their science, but by the system. And after 4+ years as postdocs, they were still earning less than brand new public school teachers.
We love our science but have to make a living, too.
It’s the same for public school teachers - the system burns a human out.
@@casualnerdjason6678
You have the background for understanding physics now you need to take your knowledge to the edgy side of physics that is making great strides in understanding the workings of our reality. Materialism is as dead as the Big Bang is now. The new frontier is of a Conscious Universe where observation collapses the wave function into particles and atoms which creates matter as we have seen over and over again in the double slit experiments. Good luck on your journey. Remember it is always better to abandon a sinking ship early rather than later.
Its also my story!
This matches up exactly with my 16 years at NASA. A colleague of mine called it "playing the doctor game", because all the PhD's were battling each other for the few secure jobs while the majority languished as grantees.
"Science" (Which means "through the knowledge of")...literally means being open to truth, wanting to explore the actual truth and to want to know the truth.
The other one, opposite one (cannot name the term because of the censor), is the desire for money, grants, more grants, desiring to promote a problem rather than a solution to keep a job, propagating biases and being afraid to look in another direction out of fear of being chastised and reprimanded.
You sound like you were a contractor instead of a government employee. Why didn't you hire on with the Federal Government?
She got what she gave out to Kaku and others in his field daring to tell them that they were wasting resources that should go to real fields of study.
This is precisely how The $ystem weeds out scientists w/ character standing on principle vs. those who'll readily sell out (i.e. produce & publish the results The $ystem wants). 😉
Someone finally has the courage to say "The emperor has no clothes"
I'm a PhD. physicist who never really had any hope of a career in academia. I really appreciate your honesty and telling it like it is. I have always found academia to be pretentious, arrogant, and intellectually stuffy. Thank you for making this video. You've earned my respect.
And you’re a man?!?
So, what do you do?
Only academics use words like "intellectually stuffy" hahaha
Hopefully you didn't get a job as a "Calibration Technician" for a company that does NIST certification of equipment. So many physics majors with BS degrees seem to enter that job market.
I was a PhD student, but I only finished with my masters. This was due to the lack of consistency between classes and the PhD exam. They would put problems on there that even the professors could not solve. They had an extra credit point system to wear a few published papers prior to the exam, you would be given credit towards the exam. There was at least one student who never took the exam and passed because they had enough papers within two years. and this is only because the professor was putting that graduate students name on the papers, even though they just started.
Not too much, it is just right and honest. Don’t ever change!
Thank you from the entire team!
Well done you.
Given the system appears to be so broken, and given it’s the people’s money at work, what could the people do to demand change? Does this have to stay broken forever?
@@berniehaberemeier2053 -- Excellent questions! To which I humbly add one more: Is the academic establishment even worth trying to fix, or do we need to replace it with something better?
@@berniehaberemeier2053spreading awareness helps. (Knowing is half the battle) But I've seen various proposals that would change the incentive structure to support good science; rather than Shitposting in scientific journals for grants.
As for how to get people to adopt these new incentives? I think things will have to get worse before they get better. People are going to keep doing things just the way they are until they can't anymore.
We need people like you, with integrity, to stand their ground. We do not need more of those spoonfed the required narrative, who quietly agree with the expected beliefs of such establishments and organisations, who demand obedience. Too many know what they are doing or think is wrong, but do it anyway, just to fit in or, remain quiet, thinking of their mortgage or their future retirement. Worldwide that has been the problem for so long. Time for change. Thank you for showing what the word honour truly means. Something no man can give you and no man can take away.
Sabine, you are a friend of science. We all love you. This may not be your dream but you kick ass at it and are affecting humanity on a much larger scale than most other work would allow you to. You have a platform now, 1.2 Million people subscribe to you, believe in you, love you. Overcome the shitty people who have gotten in your way, because they pushed you into this, where you fit so PERFECTLY. Use this to fulfill your dream.
Nicely spoken
I achieved my PhD in philosophy when I was in my 40s. I'm an ex miner. After graduation, I became a security guard until retirement. My PhD was a classy route to poverty. So I'm glad you posted this. Dr. does look good on my drivers licence.😅
I appreciate "my PhD was a classy route to poverty". It's the case for so many.
The wife of the US president is also a Doctor. She's a school teacher with a doctorate in education and demands that people refer to her as "Doctor". The title is meaningless.
Why didn't you become a university prof?
What a coincidence, I'm also an ex-minor
@@garydorfner6695 Not really meaningless. She just isn't a doctor in the common sense.
Got fired from a job you didn’t have!
What a world we live in!
I’ve had a rejection letter for a position I never applied for. I wish now that I’d kept it.
Now THAT'S a badge of honor to wear proudly! And so is your astuteness in pointing it out. 😊
@@suestreet9934 -I got an approval for a gambling licence I didn't apply for - lol...
Power-tripping is extremely common in academia.
Should have reported to him to hr and have him dismissed.
I have major respect for you. Your honesty is to be celebrated
It takes a lot of courage to post an honest to goodness video like this. I am not a scientist but I follow the science news and I've realized myself that what you talk about here in this video is the reason we've not had a major breakthrough in science in the past 50 years or so. But hopefully more scientists like yourself will speak up and stand up to academia and we'll see some real progress soon.
The wrong incentives always lead to the wrong results. Thanks for calling this out!
Thanks from the entire team!
Well said, Simon. Sad, but well said.
Yeah, spending days in YT 😂then playing victim card because life isn't easy. But she's not the only one, YT star physicists love to shine, but end up bitter and angry since they don't hand out Nobel prizes for clicks. And calling others bs (the terrible system that gave you free education) is easy, not so easy when its own
now we can talk about how a certain "99% consensus" about some stuff involving the climate was obtained
@@orionbetelgeuse1937 If you question the "99% consensus" you can easily estimate the chance of getting a proposal accepted. :-)
With 1.2M subscribers you have a real job! A real role, a real voice to teach what ever you want to teach! Genius!
Yep. The funny thing is, she has more subscribers & viewers than most TV shows.
Highly successful.
That’s certainly more attention than papers get
Until, of course, RUclips shuts her channel down for some obscure reason.
@CrimeaRiver But people have heard of her now.
Yes her brand imagine is valuable, once you get to her level on RUclips, type of content ,influence tv networks come chasing you.
Sadness, a touch of bitterness and anger and plenty of self-awareness; it's relatable, not just you for sure and not just physics.
Thank you so much for keeping it real. I wish everyone could hear this message, especially before they enter college!
Pournelle's Iron Law of Bureaucracy:
In any bureaucracy, the people devoted to the benefit of the bureaucracy itself always get in control and those dedicated to the goals the bureaucracy is supposed to accomplish have less and less influence, and sometimes are eliminated entirely.
In isolated islands, visionaries who understand this law gain power and work hard against it.
But it's a Sisyphean task.
Witness the ratio of administrators to teachers in the California State University system. 18 to 1 in against the instructors!
@@wallacegrommet9343 That's a bit deceptive. Some of those administrators support instruction. Some support research grants. Sabina isn't complaining about research load as much as research priorities.
Thank you for sharing your experiences. Brave people such as yourself need to be honest about the state of physics and academia in order for it to change.
Nice quote, I did not know this. To be fair, in my experience academic management did care about science, in so far as it relates to their own interests at least. Since the issues in academia (and academic publishing) go beyond each individual institution, however, I suppose it's easy to assign blame elsewhere and perpetuate the system rather than even try to change it. This perpetuation is, incidentally of course, also to the personal benefit of academic management.
Thank you for posting this! I am 82, left the US for Germany in 1965, earned my PhD with work at a Max Planck Institute and after a 12 year stint at the MPI I got a pure research position at a major German university. I was an electron microscopist, so a lot of people needed my help. I managed to publish 100+ papers and never had to write a grant proposal. I finally became disillusioned with science in general and just wound up helping others with their research. I also struggled to help my female coworkers get the credit they deserved for the work they did. Science was always more of a hobby for me. I write this just to say, your mileage may vary. I'm sorry you had such a bitter experience, but you have taken the bull by the horns and certainly have a greater scientific impact now than if you had just gone on in research. I love your videos and your sense of humour. Liebe Grüße aus dem kühlen hessischen Vogelsberg.
I believe I had the pleasure of reading one of your papers. Good to see people of science remain around it, even when retired. All the best to you good sir!
@@MrQwertyman111 Thanks kindly.
The commitment to having rain hit the table to hit the emotion of the video is commendable.
Never mind those are video artifacts.
Wow, honesty! How refreshing. Do not ever not post anything, dear lady. You are a freaking warrior.
I love your honesty. My brother got a PhD in theoretical physics from an Ivy League university and he felt the same way you do. He left academia a while ago and works in software now, but he still does his physics and math research every day in his spare time. I admire him a lot.
And thats why number of patents in Western countries decreased in last years. Chinese mastered it team work long time ago and thrive because of it, while here its all divide and conquer of talented motivated people
@@tatjana7008 What? US issued patents are a historic high. Also the number of patents issued has zero connection with fundamental physics research - the measure is peer reviewed publications.
@@Lavabug first of all, Sabine is not from US, she tells about experience in Germany and Europe. Second, number of confirmed patents is much important then applications, and China leads there. Third, science is interconnected and discoveries in fundamental physics might influence practical applications as well. Thats why I do theoretical computer science, because it can influence every branch of science.
About papers and publications, many chairs in my university interconnected with industry, and they often end up in patents.
I also left academia, I really didn't like the way it works.
@@tatjana7008 The US issues more utilities patents than any other country, and many Chinese enterprises seek US patents as well. Practical applications have little to do with fundamental science, they are an accident. If you're using patent number to measure scientific progress, you have no knowledge of how science works or what counts as innovation. Patents only measure commercial products, not the generation of knowledge which far outpaces what patents indicate (I am a former patent examiner).
Unfortunately, this IS a universal story in academia. It's the dirty little secret that never seems to be talked about. Despite all that, I'm glad you have found a place for yourself and choose to share your thoughts and opinions with us all.
Thank you for putting this video out!
It is spoken about, but those outside the system .. do not get heard. Listen carefully to what she says.
While a bit harsh to say, she *did* know what they were doing was wrong, and she played along with it,
until they bit her.
Fenomenal true exposed. Dear Sabine you are so great, worry do not, you have imense quality and you are an exceptional person. The reward will come and one day you will be happy with the output, I am sure you are happy with what you are doing now and be pleased cause it is giving you satisfaction, you do very nice, it is another road in your career. One foot on the back one step ahead. Many people know your works and they follow your career and path and they like you the way you are.
It's not really a dirty little secret. There are lots of ways to observe it, even as an undergrad if you work in someone's lab, some people who will confess especially if you ask the right questions, maybe not in physics departments because physicists have that personality. Sabine came from a family of accountants, they had some idea that money makes the world go round. Although the exact nature of academic research is something you have to experience it to understand. An outsider who doesn't know the field at an expert level won't know how much garbage is produced that serves merely to clog up the intellectual pipeline.
@@ronankelly4471 I don't know if I can blame Sabine though, she is but a human like us, and human need food on the table, especially for their family. I would like to imagine Scientist are just normal people who aren't particularly noble, nor should we expect them to be.
Its okay Sabine, my dream died too, and I dont have 1.2 million people to listen to me talk about it.
Hey Sabine, I'm a postgrad engineering student. Thank you for this video. I've liked and subscribed.
You have not failed, "The System" is failing us all. Thank you Sabine for trying to broaden our horizons. Hopefully this brave outreach will start some meaningful conversation.
The sad part is that "the system" is made up of us, the academic people. We prioritize money, greed, and power, and in turn, make the life of other lower-level people miserable. Then, we blame "the system".
Same with NGO's honestly. A lot of people, social sciences degrees and similar stuff, who are so passionate to work with communities, with underpriviliged people, to try to approach existing issues with new techniques, are absolutely annihilated by the grant-money procedure. Just write billions of pages of bullshit, measure absolute irrelevant stats, write mind-numbing reports, and end up wasting 75% of your energy and time on all of this, and only 25% actually doing what you want to do and are actually applying for funding.
The really important part is that forum cretins will keep parroting "Peer reviews!" when such "trusted" institutions don't even have the minimal digital literacy, and I mean Harvards, too. Total rebuilding of scholarship is inevitable.
Go for a PhD in "The Art of Sustainable Bullshit" and you will be a winner.
The sad part is that the system is made up of us, the academic people; we prioritize money, greed, and power, and in turn, make the life of other lower-level people miserable. Then, we blame the system.
Near the end of my PhD, my advisor wanted me to take a paper I wrote for PRL and write a longer one for PRC and I told him I didn't feel like there was really anything more to say for our work. I later felt bad as he ended up not getting tenure which left me in a weird state as I finished my degree without a local advisor and thus no advocate or mentor at the university. I ended up set loose as soon as the paperwork was signed on my diploma. I ended up like a lot of physicists, working in finance, and after getting married and having two children, there really wasn't any going back. Plus the realization that my notion of what academia is like was really, like yours, more of a romantic dream rather than the reality. I don't really miss academia, I miss what I thought academia was supposed to be.
Perfect response-and almost exactly my same story: the idea-or dream-is very different than the reality. I never finished my Ph.D because of this.
Thanks for sharing.
What role are you currently working in finance?
How did you made your skills as a physicist applicable to finance? It’s obviously transferable to those that know but employers don’t always fall under that category
@@Ducktility I really just do software development, but in a financial context for back-end calculations.
@@EyanZ1997 Well, in the mid-1990s when I finished, that was not really true. Physicists were desirable for implementing numerical models, especially if they had software skill. Since I worked for two years in software before grad school, and did a lot of modeling in grad school, it was an easy sell.
a woman with a strong sense of justice in academia. never ends well for that woman
The magic of youtube algorithm bought you to me. Thank you for this lovely video. After finishing my PhD, I was on the academia path. I spent 2 years as a research assistant professor and realize that University treats us like business units. The overhead is over 50% of the grant. They also make you teach or otherwise there is another penalty. It was miserable. I am glad that I have gotten out sooner than later.
You lasted longer than I did... finished my PhD (having survived broken bones, deaths, years overseas research, changes in Committee, and a mother who said, "...but you are still unmarried") I quit academia and moved to Italy to milk cows and make wine. Now I write novels. I do miss the intellectualism. but not the politics. Love you, Sabine!
Very interesting! Thanks for sharing. I took a gap year between getting my bachelor’s and going to graduate school. It’s now been a five-year gap year because I thought better of it after meeting lots of people already in the meat grinder. I sometimes wonder where my career would be, but I’ve found myself on a path more interesting and worthwhile to me.
Care to plug your novel?
@@Weberbros1 heck yeah! Thanks! Rachel Hoffman, SALTINE (Otis Books, 2021) No self-help, no politics, no trauma: just humor and humanity for smart adults who need a mental vacation...
@@rileyhoffman6629 that's the best pitch I've ever heard for a book in this day and age!
In the end you won.
Glad you left the ending in; that sums up everything you said in one sentence. _"Societal pressures too often make me unable to speak, but here at least I can choose what I say."_
This is by far your most brilliant video.❤
That conclusion is no true. YT's terms and the algorithms decide what you can and can't say and or write on this platform.
We will in fact, never know if Sabine can actually choose what she can say on RUclips until the point she get’s regularly de-monetised or de-platformed.
Rumble is where she’d be if in fact she did want to comment in a non-RUclips compliant way.
Sabine is simply just operating in a field that is less socio-politically contentious.
She’s far too intelligent to imagine her sitting in Plato’s cage with her back to the light, which makes that final statement very puzzling. Rather than underscoring her position, it undermines the viewer’s confidence that she truly understands the assaults on freedom of thought and expression and journalistic investigation that so very very many are experiencing right now.
@@07Flash11MRC - edit that comment, to make it say what you intended... ??
The fact that this statement is apparently no longer in the video is incredibly suspicious. I assume Sabine was either was forced to edit it or did so out of concern that those "societal pressures" were going to come to bear on her.
Agree 100%, Sabine. It's more about grant $ than research outcomes in higher ed. Glad you're doing your own thing. No one can take that away from you, and of course, you have us always!
Thank you Sabine. There are some great channels on youtube, and yours is one of the best.
And it's the story of a successful science educator who touched millions and made the world a slightly better place. Thank you, Sabine.
Speaking as retired full professor (social sciences) at a research university in the in USA I fully support your decision. You play a vital role as a public intellectual helping to educate non-specialists about the state of scientific inquiry in the physical sciences. Your RUclips videos reach many more people - several orders of magnitude - than typical research publications read by a handful of specialists. So I say Bravo! Keep up the good work.
You've gotta admit, from the respected Popperian POV at least, social science should almost never be called a science?
truer words were never spoken
@@lighthousesaunders7242 "Respected Popperian" bro hardly any academics of philosophy take Popper seriously. But yes, if you take Popper seriously, then you have to reject sociology and economics, and some of biology and climatology would also be on shaky grounds.
Bravo
The problem is these videos get hijacked by conspiracy nutters, rather then anybody who could do anything about the issues she raises
My dream died too, now im a janitor and honestly couldnt be happier.
I was married to a PhD, and everything you spoke about here rings true to what I experienced during that time... we're certainly better off with eyes open, doing what actually makes us happy now, aren't we? More power to you, Sabine!
Dear Dr. Hossenfelder, dear Sabine, I am a marine biologist from The Netherlands and active in academia. You echoed all my frustrations about our world. Thank you for speaking your mind ❤. I too challenge my peers by asking whether they really think they're going to change the world or simply keeping themselves in business. The result: denial, or better termed cognitive dissonance. I too dream of a youtube career, but I suck at it 😅. Best of luck to you, Sabine, and thank you for your wonderful videos.
You do know people can tell when you are BSing right. Nobody goes into marine biology thinking they will "change the world".
fake it till you make it, and don't count on youtube, post on 4 or 5 different platforms, facebook, odysee, rumble, tiktok, maybe discord, etc.
What do you do as a marine biologist?
@@zet0korp don't believe everything you read in RUclips comments.
Change the world? You’re one of those scientists. Im glad they ignore you. Wait for the next Era, the world would have changed.
Also a retired academic. I had decent employment, was intellectually challenged, had more free time to accomplish what I wanted than I ever would have found in any other job, but at the same time was always disappointed by the lack of collegiality and any sense of cohesiveness in the department. The milieu - populated with tremendous egos, some earned, some not so much - made for a very lonely existence. I did my research, taught my courses and went home, spending as little time on campus as possible. There were very few friends to be found in such a environment. I loved my students - the only real saving grace. Thanks for your videos.
Is it the doctoral defence which turns ourselves so offensive afterwards?
Hey, sad to hear that. This sounds like bad luck, but you are definitly not alone.
I build a new team at a company, interviewed many phd‘s. The easiest way to get them excited, was telling them that they would work with others on a common goal. I could literally see the spark in their eyes, as if they saw light for the first time after 3 years.
I myself got lucky, my time during my phd was great. Insanenly interesting topic, bde ent success in my work and outstanding colleges.
The only way to get a sense of cohesiveness was to threaten to merge the department... the only time Architects seem to get along is when you suggest that the department might be replaced with a double degree of Arts and Engineering.
@@fly_8659 hehe good story.
Thank you for being honest. This was the main theme in the movie "the Whale". Every one is so afraid to be honest. But it offers a beautiful reflection of ourselves to see the struggles others have been through.
"Admiration is our polite recognition of another's resemblance of ourselves". - Ambrose Bierce
"We never remark any passion or principle in others, of which in some degree or other, we may not find a parallel in ourselves". - Hume
Thank you for your story..
Wow, great quotes... Something we may all learn from, upon reflection.
Fantastic report - academia's loss was a huge gain for everyone else. Thank you, Sabine Hossenfelder.
I'm a gardener with a lay interest in physics. Gardening is no bullshit in an otherwise cynical world. It makes for good health both physical and mental. I already had enough bullshit as an undergrad. The boffins careened off into ideological space and lost touch with the natural world, and all the brain-work made me depressed, so I started digging holes, moving rocks and planting shrubs, and this is a much happier place. I'm glad you escaped that miserable, dishonest path and took the path of truth. It is an inspiring story, and I'm a big fan.
Most inspiring comments section here, too.
Gardening is dramatically helped by cow manure and bullshit is not shunned either. (The REAL bullshit, not the bullshit bullshit!)
;-)
Hear , hear !
Good for you lloydy! I wish you great success
I’m actually thinking of going this route! It’s nice to hear someone who’s done so!
The fact is, the amount of screentime required in any academic pursuit is unhealthy unless it is rigorously managed.
F**ing brilliant. This just elevated Sabine and her channel to another level for me. And I will venture to say- for many others as well.
100%
absolutely. not surprised, but wow ya. This is a big moment.
Agreed
She is beyond brilliant
Thank you for posting this, Sabine. Big enough chunks of this are also my experience. What a world :-(
Thank you for the honesty ! I wish you all the best!
Sadly, your diagnosis of the problems with academic research institutions is spot on.
Actually, it's worse than that. There are other parts of the system that she hasn't yet looked at closely enough to realise how rotten they are. Most people don't reset their expectations for the parts they can't see to keep in line with the parts they can.
@@Lamarth1 what parts?
@@Lamarth1 nonsense
@@johndor7793gotta be a flat earther or something Lol
@@johndor7793 For instance the Perpetuum Mobile that allows scientific publishers to generate revenue from thin air.
FWIW Sabine: I decided to be a medical doctor at the age of four. Spent my life in the pursuit of that dream, qualified, and all of my adult life has been dedicated to that calling - I've been pretty bloody good at it. But here's the rub - I hated every minute here in the UK, it's been that horrible. In my mid 50's I 'stressed out', I'm now at a complete loss and thoroughly regret all those lost years.
If it helps you are not alone. Better yet, you've found something genuinely worthwhile to do that doesn't render what you did before wasted effort.
Ironically, my US doctor got tired of the paperwork and insurance controls on medicine, quit his practice and went into medical research at NIH.
We the patients are grateful for your service even if the govt isn't......
What you said reminded me, a veteran in the USA, of a visit to a doctor at the VA. He said to me . . . "You know why I came to work for the VA?" Then he said "Because at the VA, it is not like being a normal civilian doctor, because of the constant pressure to make profits." That told me all I needed to know about seeing any doctors outside of the VA here in the USA.
Sabine- nice to know I’m not alone. Same thing happened to me in a different discipline. But when the PhD work made me disillusioned I pivoted to MD. Now, at the end of my career doing work that I’ve loved, the corporate sharks have taken over (in the US) and I’m getting out. So Charles, I can sympathize brother. It seems the common thread is the drive for money. As much as I loathed the hold religion had on our world in the past, at least it acknowledged mammon as bad. Maybe our kids can get it right because our generation has sure made a mess of things.
@@mangodoc10 It's "love of mammon". Yeah, there is wisdom in those pages, but you've got to winnow.
I just discovered your channel today watching your commentary on String theory and its history. I love your videos and they’ve reminded me why I find physics so fascinating. You’re brilliant and I think you’re serving humanity and your mental health much better by bringing these issues and concepts you love to an audience who appreciates your passion more than some stuffy asshats on a review board.
Welcome😊
Thank you for pointing it out! Really needs to be heared.
I think another sick part of academia is the paper producing machinery itself: Taxpaid scientists writing papers after papers to get grants on the one side. Greedy publishing companies like Elsevier on the other - exploiting the scientists' need to publish, not paying them for their contributions to journals - and then selling the overpriced journals back to (again tax funded) libraries.
Even writing about it leaves me enraged - and in admiration for the criminal genious of the business model
Post doc here. Your experience is all too relatable. You've touched on one of my biggest gripes about academia - It's not just the job insecurity/funding that's the issue - it's that it seems to support the worst kind of people in positions of power. I also understand your reservations about posting this since academia is full of adult children perpetually ready for a Witch hunt. Anyone who thinks academia is operating sustainably is kidding themselves. For context, I've just worked three back to back three month contracts. I'm currently working FOR FREE under the suggestion that "more money might become available soon... but also please keep working because it might bring in significant IP for the University and it's good for your career." It's so nice to see you made it out and are kicking ass. Cheers.
This is the kind of stuff that scares me to hell! I'm a PhD student, and will soon have to face what you're going through and I really don't think I'll survive it; but I also don't know what to do! I've thought about quitting so many times!
You havnt seen anything yet then. Just wait till you get into the private sector.
@raymondraillery take a lot of this with a pinch of salt.
Job security is definitely an issue for post-docs, as its the unfortunate nature of the job. However, the rest is personal preference and opinions.
@@raymondraillery I wouldn't be too worried. A PhD will open doors for you in many jobs outside of academia.
How can I deal with the “money is coming soon”? I have the same problem as you…
I am glad you posted the video! As a female academic approaching retirement (and not with a pension), I can definitely relate to what you experienced. With 24,614 comments as of my posting, it is unlikely that you will see this, but THANK YOU.
Sorry about your pension
I see you and you deserve better
I see you.
So nice of you to share this, it was the right thing to do. Your experience is valid. Thank you. More people need to truly listen and understand the depth of this. The gatekeepers limit science.
You are my hero, Sabine! I used to criticize you making vblogs that are not physics related. However, after your explanation in this video, I am absolutely OK with whatever topic you want to cover from now on. You are a true scientist. 👍👍👍
I agree with you entirely. I walked away from this weird world of writing papers in 1971, utterly deceived by the rat race of the conflict between publishing and keeping things secret to prevent someone else publishing before you. Expanding human knowledge was not the priority - it was just an immoral competition for grant money.
And that was in 1971? Already?
@@frankfahrenheit9537 This hit! 1971!
You did academia in US? Germany imported this system somewhen in the 90".
@@ich3601 I was in the UK in 1971.
Read a biography of Sir Richard Francis Burton.
I attempted my PhD starting in 2019 at a federal research institute and was shocked to find what Sabine is talking about. Dozens of smart people working as PhD students, post docs or engineers were repackaging the same old data they produced years ago or followed outdated ideas with seemingly no use just for the sake of writing papers. The people there knew the absurdity of the situation but the need for money and job security overshadowed everything else. Finally after two years that shattered my scientific curiosity I broke out of that madness, cancelled my PhD position and left the academic world.
Unlike you it dawned on me in my final year In college, that whilst I had adored science from my childhood, it was a career that I could not afford to chase for the rest of my adult life. Though the bug has never left me, today as I approach my 80th, year, real science education has become so accessible, thanks to you, and many like you on the net. Your wide variety subject matters, dispensed in your unique presentation style, I find educational and repeatedly amusing. Keep up the good work Sabine and stay true to your beliefs.
What you do now ?
10^3 pardons for reiterating: You didn't fail. Becoming more genuine and integrated emotionally is the loftiest of all achievements, IMO.
Thank you for sharing! We need not only more people like you, we need to be like you!
I for one am very glad that you're doing RUclips video - an honest trade, one you're extremely good at, and with a significant positive impact on the world.
I'm a former academic (computer science). There are small pockets of legitimacy in my field, but it's mostly what you describe: bandwagons, bogus conferences and journals, and a shared unspoken agreement not to call BS on things, as long as the grant money is coming in.
"..with a siginficant positive impact on the world." -- so true, thanks
The ghastly level of replicability of published scientific work tells me you're right.
It truly is ghastly, though I've spent a horrific amount of time reading through epidemiological studies in food and health science so I'm a bit biased. Sometimes the most basic critical thinking can rule out the conclusions of well-cited research papers, but it gets published anyway because you don't get that sweet sweet grant money otherwise, and nobody actually cares anyway. They're just people with jobs who are afraid to lose their jobs.
replicability, and reproducibility!
Biological sciences have their own problems (the reproducibility crisis), but it's a bit different from physics.
@@yomin2162 ecology trying to hide
Exactly! Without replication and falsifiability, there is no science going on. Our modern knowledge is 95% shifting sand.
Hi Sabine. My name is Mihai, i am an archaeologist with close to two decades in the industry. Tonight, I had a few pints with a friend of mine and we where talking about the same sh1tshow in our industry, academic and commercial. Your channel is a breath of fresh air and a good place to learn. Thank you for your time and effort and for this video, particularly.
what area of archaeology?
... that's why I am unemployed and enjoy my life and time by learning what I want, doing recreational sports, taking strolls in the park, watching documentaries and gaming. Everything government tries to get me into work will only lead to the government paying three times more for me than it does now.
I am definitely not prostituting myself in fake,-science and fake-research.
To you I wish the best - and to enjoy yourself as much or even more as I do in my position. I did not choose it but rather got shifted into it...but AI adapted and now like it very much... especially because now I know what I avoided without even knowing it back then.
@@curiousbystander9193several areas of interest, but I work mainly in commercial archaeology and planning.
@@chillfluencerthere's a bit of a difference between me, who works for a living and pays taxes and, if you live off of government assistance, meant to be a support for people who NEED OT FOR WHATEVER REASON, you... If you live of of your personal savings, I can't tell you how to live your life and spend your money. If you are on the public support, get off your effing ass and get a job, you prick.
Wow. for something with intense simplicity, this was one of the most engaging videos I've seen on youtube.
Just wanted to say posting this video was the right thing to do. Thanks for sharing something so personal but so relevant in today’s discussion about academia.
Female biologist over 40 from Germany here.
That's exactly how I see it. Not only from my own experience, but also from that of many acquaintances.
At the beginning, you're quite happy that you can do what you like without being bothered. By the time you write your thesis at the latest, you realize the difficulties of the system that you describe. I was also irritated by the inaccuracy with which results are produced, at least in biology. As soon as you are in the system, you also see the incompetence (technical, organizational, human) of other researchers. I often had the impression that some were simply in the right place at the right time and were just willing to play along with this application circus.
As a woman, it's particularly difficult if you want to start a family. It's hardly possible without help, including financial help, from grandparents. I know some who have made it at least some way, but only with the help of their parents.
Yes, the system is weak. I've seen many excellent young researchers leave because they didn't want to play this game.
Nevertheless, I have also met nice, very competent colleagues who have made it - but very few.
"I was also irritated by the inaccuracy with which results are produced" THIS, ohhh you can't image how this makes me angry.
In the beginning, we were all ignorant and delusional. Then the realities of this world became apparent. Why be bitter about it?
You're supposed to be able to have a husband bring you, the mother the resources to give birth and raise your child. We have always been able to do this until the petrol dollar was invented and bankers realized they would need more workers or the system would crash too soon.
One parent gets the resources and contributes to society. The other parent raises the child and contributes to your family. Corporations have demanded that both parents be tapped for work and our children have suffered dearly for it. In Ireland it's actually in their constitution that should this ever happen they have a right to dissolve the gov and start over(should a mother ever be forced to work in order to raise her child as this is the entire point of society, we know we can make a society where only one parent needs to work and so any society where 2 must is a failure and they KNEW THIS). I don't think they enforce it or they just give welfare checks to them.
Regardless, only serfs and indentured servants were made to have mothers work. We have been enslaved and told it was empowering.
At least you are an independent, strong empowered wahman❤
I thought scientists were infallible? Sounds like we've been sold another lie by the atheists.
Sabine, this was not "too much," as you said. It helped me. I just quit a job after 23 years of international travel, and I really synch up with what you said about the travel and the psychological displacement from one's own life. It took a massive toll on me, and I'm a single man without the reproductive priorities and family needs that you had. Even so, depression, broken relationships, and a sense of not belonging anywhere became chronic and damaging, not to mention the constant jet-lag and the lack of appreciation. And like you, I noticed that my institution primarily served to perpetuate itself, not do good work. Thanks for posting this! I think you did the right thing, and I finally did too.
Awesome, and I can totally relate. After 20 years in corporate business, and therefore sustaining it, three years ago my conscience had enough. I quit, changed my life around and became a professional gardener. Best decision ever.
You will find your path, I’m sure. All the best 🧘🏻🤘🏻
Oh Sabine, this breaks my heart. If I was there I'd give you a big hug, because it's so hard to see your dream die. No, it's not a bit too much, and I wish the world of physics research would change so you could do the work you love.
Working in academia as a law researcher and lecturer, I had the exact same experiences, thanks a lot for making that video!