Don't these careers pay pretty low, especially for the level of education?
I always assumed that was the low stakes part. Its like making game-of-thrones-esque will-to-power moves at your McDonalds job.
After a victory in a vicious trial by combat: "To your knees, I now dub you assistant manager of McDonalds store #1263245, your pay now raises two and a half percent and you get to park a little closer to the building."
I think the quote is referring to the stakes of the underlying decision being made, not necessarily the stakes of the politics. Academics will argue in great detail about trivialities and those trivialities can decide careers.
A friend recently gave up a career in which his very soul was bound but which had kept him impoverished and struggling, always having to navigate churn to afford to live. He works in a call center now, and he’s so much less depressed that it’s like he’s a different person.
I mean that's great but honestly if you're a PhD or postdoc, being told that working in a call centre is better for you is hardly an encouraging thought. In fact, it would bring great shame to most people from their families.
