Pedro Domingos

When you put it that way...

apparently a graduate student's job is to be a man

Mine has no ideas, so I came up with my own bad ones

I had to throw away my own ideas to do that. After the PhD and a postdoc I still think my ideas were good. I will try to implement them independently when I save enough to focus on research. I cannot tolerate academia at this time in my life.

Bullshit. Trainees' job is TO BE TRAINED. No industry besides academia has this backward, mud-encrusted, upside-down view.

Especially in US-style giant research groups.

The 1st year year you tell me what to do; the 3rd year I will tell you what we must do.

Perhaps the advisor's job is to at least give some ideas that make sense, while respecting the grad student's ideas as well??