Posts like this (and there are many of them) scare me.<p>I&#x27;m in the latter half of a PhD. I love it. I work insane hours entirely out of my own choice, because it is the most rewarding and enjoyable thing I&#x27;ve ever been a part of.<p>The idea that I&#x27;ve found something that I love, that is challenging, that (I hope) I&#x27;m relatively good at, and that has a definite net positive good for us as a species&#x2F;society, yet I may not be able to pursue this long term because of the immense challenges facing academia as a whole (catalyzed, I would argue, by tragic lack of funding) is really concerning, on both a personal and a societal level.