From what I've read, getting a phd is so not worth it. There's way too many of them (postdocs) competing for few academic positions in the west, resulting in low pay, whistle blowers (cuz there's lots of cheating due to intense competition) getting revenged on, professors lying to aspiring students about old profs soon retiring so that newcomers will have a shot at tenure, lots of unpaid debt, little job security (your boss/tpb dislikes you, you're gone), researchers toeing the line by never doing anything unconventional (if Einstein did that, then no theory of relativity) random things like being physically attractive you are motivating someone to stop you from advancing, long hours, harsh competition not just between colleagues but also departments, little freedom both in the now and in the future, few practical skills learned, overqualified for most normal (REAL) jobs, ignorance of and snobby contempt towards the outside world (ivory tower culture).
Academic bureaucracy is terrible in Europe (higher ups exploit the achievements of lesser ppl, just like the generation before them), so there's braindrain towards NA, increasing competition there. Poor countries have worse equipment for research, so for many in 1st world countries, moving might not be the solution. Its supposedly worst of all in life sciences where there are stories of 3rd world immigrants taken advantage of (threats about having their green card revoked from their professor, etc) and way too many ppl competing, more so than other academic fields. Like K4M said its idol worship... There are stories of arrogant students who've always been at the top of their class thinking they're gonna be a Nobel prize winner. They mock everyone who doesn't take the hardest courses but then they get disillusioned later, as the going gets tougher the farther you climb on the academic ladder.
tl;dr version: this
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Reficulris like Allie said some time ago in the chatbox you're just another intellectual masturbator. And if you really want the red pill how about suicide?