Reading about Galileo, Newton, and others when I was young, I felt that they came from means or had the means to do 'deep' work. Until you have the means, the Bullshit Industrial Complex seems like the rational path to follow. It gets attention which gets you paid.
I wish all programmers with a healthy bank account and vested stock quit their FAANG jobs and did research or worked on personal projects. But there is greater external validation in saying you work at FAANG vs. I'm working on some highly technical topic only .01% of people will ever care about.
Edit: I 'ass'umed why people don't do quiet research/building when they have the money but would love to hear first hand reasons.
I wish all programmers with a healthy bank account and vested stock quit their FAANG jobs and did research or worked on personal projects. But there is greater external validation in saying you work at FAANG vs. I'm working on some highly technical topic only .01% of people will ever care about.
Edit: I 'ass'umed why people don't do quiet research/building when they have the money but would love to hear first hand reasons.