For the very specific point made at the beginning, I don’t think most scientific fields are pyramid schemes, unless by pyramid scheme you mean anything where there’s a lot more people at the bottom than the top and the top is more desirable than the bottom (Like I don’t think large companies like Google are pyramid schemes, unless you really stretch the term).
Words are made by man, but I guess (removing normative judgments) my understanding of a pyramid scheme is a situation where a) many people at the bottom want to be at the top, b) the success of the people at the top is a direct result of contributions from people at the bottom, and c) most of the incentive for work for people at the bottom is the excess returns at the top.
In that regard, legal pyramid schemes include poker, some arts, and some humanities. Also (more archetypally) multilevel marketing etc. I can also sort of see a case for professional e-sports/gaming, though I think the case is much weaker than for poker.
In contrast, undergrad education in STEM (eg chemistry or CS) and some of the social sciences is both directly useful and relevant signaling that prepares people for non-academic jobs. Depending on the subfield, this is often true for PhDs as well, though the case for postdocs might be lower.
For the very specific point made at the beginning, I don’t think most scientific fields are pyramid schemes, unless by pyramid scheme you mean anything where there’s a lot more people at the bottom than the top and the top is more desirable than the bottom (Like I don’t think large companies like Google are pyramid schemes, unless you really stretch the term).
Words are made by man, but I guess (removing normative judgments) my understanding of a pyramid scheme is a situation where a) many people at the bottom want to be at the top, b) the success of the people at the top is a direct result of contributions from people at the bottom, and c) most of the incentive for work for people at the bottom is the excess returns at the top.
In that regard, legal pyramid schemes include poker, some arts, and some humanities. Also (more archetypally) multilevel marketing etc. I can also sort of see a case for professional e-sports/gaming, though I think the case is much weaker than for poker.
In contrast, undergrad education in STEM (eg chemistry or CS) and some of the social sciences is both directly useful and relevant signaling that prepares people for non-academic jobs. Depending on the subfield, this is often true for PhDs as well, though the case for postdocs might be lower.
Agreed; the problems of academia are not similar to those of a pyramid scheme.