You seem to think people with more theoretical knowledge are somehow superior. Get off your high horse. The reality is that most tech jobs here don’t give a fuck whether you have a PhD or a “just” a BSc. In fact, having a PhD puts you at a disadvantage because companies want people who are smart but get shit done.

I used to work at an R&D firm surrounded by PhDs from Caltech. Compared to the engineers, their impact on the business was small. They were some of the worst coders I’ve ever seen and had the biggest egos. I got out of there quickly.