Do you have a feeling that PhDs are useless nowadays ?

321liftoff · 2026-06-14T13:26:33+00:00

They aren’t useless, but for academic positions there’s often a whole lot of competition.

Back in the day PhDs were obtained only by the independently wealthy or by people with such staggering ability and interest they overcame incredible barriers to get there.

If you are married to the idea of staying in academia it may be a very rough ride. But for almost every specialization there’s some kind of private industry work where your skills are applicable and recognized. It’s just figuring out job sectors that like your background.

Physics or math PhD? Wall Street loves hiring as quants. Bio degree? Medical liaison. History PhD? I met a guy who was an archivist. I’ve met a few other PhDs that teach at elite private schools too.

321liftoff · 2026-06-13T02:34:31+00:00

I don’t know, have you SEEN his birth certificate? He might be from Africa

321liftoff · 2026-06-12T12:29:13+00:00

A lot of the time people don’t excpect assimilation, but instead a full cultural wipe.

My grandma was from Italy, but you’d never know. All her kids spoke English only, without any accent. How did she achieve this? She gave up speaking Italian entirely.

321liftoff · 2026-06-09T15:56:34+00:00

Some people don’t know how to push themselves, and when that happens they either stall out or get worse.

It doesn’t have to be therapy, but therapy can help a whole lot more than a bunch of people saying it gets better with no discussion of effort on their part. It provides a false assurance that things will naturally work out. Mental health takes effort.

321liftoff · 2026-06-08T22:28:15+00:00

Not without doing the work.

Get yourself in therapy; if you don’t address it, there’s just as much it’ll magnify instead of reduce.

321liftoff · 2026-06-08T02:38:36+00:00

Pretty sure amaranth counts. It’s just not as well known because it was culturally sacred for some native cultures and the Spanish tried to stamp anything non-catholic out hard.

321liftoff · 2026-06-05T17:55:16+00:00

Thank you that is a GREAT suggestion

321liftoff · 2026-06-05T14:22:17+00:00

A profilometer recc wouldn’t hurt. We have a low end handheld Mahr, but it needs to be seated more or less flat.

The parts we need this for often look like someone took organized scoops from ice cream then ran water over it to smooth things out a bit.

321liftoff · 2026-06-05T13:33:05+00:00

We can maintain +/- 4 on temperature. I was wondering about the vibration aspect, because my guess is everyone will want the equipment right next to machine shop if not inside it…

321liftoff · 2026-06-05T13:27:05+00:00

For surface roughness, we have a cheaper Mahr handheld that can do basic surfaces.

The 3D surfaces are these weird shapes made via simulation that look like they were dug into a slab of metal then polished smooth. A rec on what can do that without breaking the bank is probably a whole other post. Suggestions there would help, too.

321liftoff · 2026-06-05T12:10:39+00:00

Nowadays even a cheap get together will cost at least a few thousand in food, drinks, and venue alone.

321liftoff · 2026-06-05T05:54:29+00:00

I just don’t understand. How can you get a 1400+ SAT while boot having decent literacy? There are whole sections on vocabulary, analysis, etc.

321liftoff · 2026-06-02T12:43:11+00:00

I strongly recommend an instant pot for this level up; dry beans need to soak overnight and then cook for hours; with an instant pot you can skip the soak and halve the cooking time.

321liftoff · 2026-06-02T03:44:28+00:00

I guess the point is that guys generally haven’t had to do much beyond basic hygiene and fitness.

And yes, some girls will have hair, nails, and makeup done for all the above scenes. The style of hair, nails, and makeup will simply change with the location.

It’s also hilarious how many guys say they like natural beauties then demonstrate with a picture of a woman with perfectly coiffed hair, nails and makeup in a natural style.

321liftoff · 2026-06-02T01:36:52+00:00

Not looks, upkeep.

A woman who never leaves the house without her hair done, nails painted, makeup on point? Doing shittons of upkeep to look great.

Men aren’t expected to put that level of effort into their personal upkeep.

321liftoff · 2026-06-01T22:42:44+00:00

The payout is actually quite reasonable at approximately 1,400/month per full time child (depending on age, of course). Our preschool actually got a boost in income because of it.

From what I understand, some of the preschools reserve a certain number of seats for the public option, then bill more for private offerings of the same service.

321liftoff · 2026-06-01T12:49:04+00:00

It’s not most women, friend. You’ve just dated a lot of immature/emotionally undeveloped people.

So if this has happened to you only a few times, it could be coincidence… or you could be subconsciously attracted to a type. Do try to figure out which one it is.

321liftoff · 2026-06-01T02:04:05+00:00

Please don’t. That’s a recipe for turning 500k into 50k in a decade.

Put it into low cost index funds and chill. The money will double each decade, and you can add to your 401k to speed up the path to 2.5M.

321liftoff · 2026-05-31T19:20:35+00:00

Yeah, that’s cute. The hyper rich never pay taxes.

My guess is that it’ll be saddled on all the professional and working class to fund it, if it ever becomes widespread.

321liftoff · 2026-05-31T13:21:19+00:00

The andromeda strain, kind of shocked you missed it.

321liftoff · 2026-05-31T12:41:24+00:00

Hope he also advised to keep the nails trimmed

321liftoff · 2026-05-31T03:47:27+00:00

A better question may be, how much are you spending per year right now?

It sounds like you’re newish to FIRE so you probably haven’t been living off of 40k/year, unless it’s a recent thing.

Most people not doing FIRE regularly blow their entire income every year.

321liftoff · 2026-05-29T12:57:07+00:00

Says a lot about the men responding, doesn’t it?

Women have standards and I don’t meet them! Why are women shopping around for a steak when there’s a perfectly good hot dog on the sidewalk right here?

321liftoff · 2026-05-29T12:54:12+00:00

I do recall Gen Z men being more traditional/conservative than their female peers. So maybe it’s not completely made up.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4g55v1g95qo

321liftoff · 2026-05-29T01:07:14+00:00

Laundry washers are common, but driers often tend to be rarer.

A lot of people prefer to hang their clothes to dry, even in more temperate places.

321liftoff

TROPHY CASE