[Please read the OP before voting. Special voting rules apply.]
For many smart people, academia is one of the highest-value careers they could pursue.
Highest value for the person, for society, or both?
Also, by "high value" do you mean purely monetary or do you mean other benefits?
As per a recent comment this thread is meant to voice contrarian opinions, that is anything this community tends not to agree with. Thus I ask you to post your contrarian views and upvote anything you do not agree with based on personal beliefs. Spam and trolling still needs to be downvoted.