I am a post-doc in one of the ivory towers. I've been in the system a long time (technician, MD, PhD, residency, fellowship, now post doc). Jeez!

I am a computational immunologist who studies cancer immunotherapy, if it matters. I am not independently wealthy or blah blah. I am a normal everyday person.

I agree academia is nonsensical for the many reasons that are frequently discussed in HN.

Mine is not a perspective I see represented here often: I absolutely love my job as a post doc. Everyone is different - I get a lot of joy from my work. Most of my friends in science at different stages feel more or less the same (albeit everyone complains).

I could get paid 10x more or work half as much, maybe both at the same time. So to answer the question here, why do people do this? Cuz I like it. Don't make everything so complicated (as an academic, that is my job).