Is it?
I moved from ML and Physics research to optimising the sale of imaginary currencies in mobile games, because the pay and stability is so much better.
It's a great shame that academia is terribly paid and an unstable career path in the West.
I'd much rather be working on Fusion research or genetic engineering, but that won't pay the mortgage.
>Is it?
Yes, actually. It is.
Personally, I've been reading for 25 years about how "why are people wasting their time on $NICHE instead of contributing to $MAJORPROJECT" -specifically in the open source world. It becomes more and more grating and offensive every year.
If you have the ability to choose what you want to work on, then that is what you ought to work on. If you (generic "you") don't have a choice, then you have to do what you have to do and your limitations ought to not limit those who aren't limited or aren't in your situation.
There’s always a choice
People choose money, comfort or certainty all the time
I don’t think I’ve ever chosen a problem to solve professionally my whole life
And you know what? Given the choice, not sure what I’d pick
Given that you are in a developed country this may seem so of course...for most people they are just trying to survive
https://trendguardian.medium.com/free-will-a-rich-fairy-tale...
Is it better in the East? No loaded question, I genuinely want to know your answer
Must be all that coal money