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This question's gauche, but: given the prevalence of $400k++ comp packages for ~30-year-olds in Big Tech, why aren't there lots more "gentle[wo]man scholars"? i.e. people quitting to do non-remunerative creative projects I can think of some, but shouldn't there be thousands?

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Conrad Bastable

@ConradBastable

Jan 28

- genuine scholars are rare on a generational level - no reason same Q couldn’t be asked of Finance for last 4 decades - maybe substack is partially this - maybe institutionalization of scholarship - work is mentally costly even if overpaid & underworked, not enough brain cycles

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Andy Matuschak

@andy_matuschak

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@ConradBastable

Thank you for many answers not mentioned in other replies! The point about finance is particularly interesting…

1:46 AM · Jan 28, 2022Twitter Web App

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Of course :) it’s a good question Historically & geographically speaking, concentrations of wealth seem much more common than concentrations of scholarship!

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and

"Quit high-paying finance to do [random creative pursuit]" is a stereotype in finance/NYC, it's a common story. Lots of NYC restaurants started by such people.

Conrad Bastable

@ConradBastable

Jan 28

For sure! As with Tech. And yet the personal scholarship impact is similar. As you say, restaurants & other creative pursuits. The wealth itself is not sufficient for lots of individual scholarship