1. transcript
  2. Two postdocs sitting in the lunch room, drinking beers

Two postdocs sitting in the lunch room, drinking beers

By apalazzo on September 7, 2007.

German Nihilist Postdoc: You know what we are?
Me: No, what?
GNP: Leibeigenschaft.
Me: What's that?
GNP: A serf, you know like in the middle ages.
Me: You mean XXX is our lord and we follow his commands?
GNP: Yup. Or a pawn, yes that is what we are.
Me: Yeah, I guess XXX is the king or queen and we little guys move up the board square by freakin' square for the glory of the lab.
GNP: Sometimes we kick to the right, sometimes to the left, battling the pawns from the other competing labs.
Me: Some of us are sacrificed with risky projects.
GNP: If we are not protected or backed up by the other pawns.
Me: And with some luck if we make it all the way to the other side without being gobbled up, then we get to become a queen.
GNP: I guess that would make our boss a queen and not a king.

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lab life

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nah, feudal is the wrong way to think about it. What you are is the proletariat and the PIs are the owners of the means of production. Your surplus value is being extracted, that's the twinge you feel. Go have another beer and it will go away.

A customer pays for your services. The broad lines are laid out beforehand by him (the customer is typically male). You might have a say with respect to some of the details during the course of the transaction. However, when you have provided your services you will have to find another customer quickly.

You are an academic prostitute. So am I.

Nice analogy. It helps to ask an interesting question that has occupied my thoughts recently...how do pawns react to their situation to eke out survival? Do they hide behind the king or queen or others more powerful than themselves, by seeking to compete with their fellow pawns for the queen/king's favor? Do they go it alone and use their own resources and abilities to take on enemy forces independently? Or, as a final alternative, do they band together with their fellow equals and join together, united by their common interest to throw off the oppressive reins of oligarchy that threaten them from both sides of the board...???

Perhaps all equally valid ways of achieving success in the end, but vast differences in the quality of life experienced during the journey there...