Why do we work/study etc?

Find myself and others around me asking this question over and over. Its a variation of the whats the point of existence question I suppose. Try to answer it and there are obstracles. If you say for money - then it become why do you need it? - sustinence, family, enjoyment,future etc... But at what point do you draw the line between the need for money and the time to enjoy the fruits of your labour so to speak. Is there a point of providing for the family but not realy being a part of that family as you are never realy present in the household? Is it too soon to be asking these questions? i.e. when we don't have families etc. should we just work so that we may work less later - but what about your loved ones now are they not as important as when you have a family? And can you slow down or stop later if you become a workaholic now?

Another answer might be - it is expected of us...we are expected to study to a certain level and get a "good" job etc - especially in our societies its about studying to college and getting a professional type of job. Then individually too there are expectations from your parents etc to make something of yourself/ help out siblings other family members/ other comitments - we do things to fulfil these expectations - but do they always make you happy. Even if you think you are doing something you wanted to, is it realy what you wanted to do or something that was sort of drummed into your head till you though that was what you wanted. Think about it a lot of people at A/L college level say they want to be doctors and engineers and such - do they all realy want to do that or they have been conditioned to think they do. There is also the expectation to do something because you are good at it. You might be an allrounder type who wants to try something else (possibly diverging from your "set" path) but you are realy good at what you have been doing so you are expected to go further along that path than diverge.

Then there is the answer that you enjoy or want to do what it is that you are doing/plan to do. Do you put everything into your work/study because you love it ignoring all around? (and because may have to to do it well). Is it possible to suddenly not like it? (I'd say so when I see people question what they are doing when a year or few months before they were saying the reverse.) What if you are doing what you love but it clashes with the other answers (ie it doesn't realy bring in much money or isn't what was expected of you). What do you do when you start questioning what you want...do you quit and change? - What about the time spent - would it be considered wasted or just a phase you went through, a part of your experiences.

So following which path would make it least likely for you to look back someday and say "what if?". I guess it realy does depend on individual perceptions but perceptions can change and what you think is important now probably wont be what you think is important later causing the what ifs to come. I guess everyone whatever path they chose finds themselves asking these questions (unless they have no expectations to live up to, had a trust fund and were able to do something they loved.) I find a lot of young people asking what is the point very early on in their a and its a bit disconcerting - did our parents and older generations have these questions too?

Think before you speak

Some people are guilty of blurting out whatever coming to mind, or acting on impulse. On the plus side such people would be pretty truthful or straightforward I guess. But the down side is that they can say thing they might regret - like make a commitment without thinking things through and end up having to carry it through even though it would be wise not to - or could end up saying something hurtful to others.
The flipside are those who ponder their words and actions thoroughly before saying or doing anything. Great they've wieghed the consequences of their words/actions and probably made an informed decision. Problem is they have thought so long the moment has passed. There would be two courses of action at this point. Say or do nothing as the moment has passed - hence the thought process was utterly pointly plus there is the regret of not having done/said something. The other way is to say or do it anyway which leads to the problem of it being akward since something which is a natural action in one moment would be utterly inappropriate in the next and leaves everyone going "huh?".
I have met people who belong to both categories and wish in both cases that they would be more balanced. But then I guess not very many people are very balanced. Most of us would be in either category in different situations.

Naive Economic Loser?

A friend of my forwarded me this article The Ph.D. Glut Revisited . Reading through one had to agree with what the author had to say that since the 1970's " The number of entry-level full-time professorial positions has remained stagnant. Few new universities have been constructed." , but the number of PhDs passing out each year is on the rise. Ok so this article was pretty harsh ending with a word to the wise - "If the public understood the economics of earning a Ph.D., people would think "naïve economic loser" whenever they hear "Ph.D."" and reading it indeed cause many to wonder their paths (ok including me). But then I think we also need to re-evaluate the article according to individual circumstance. Take for example my uni and department- where 90% of the post grads seem to be scholars and earn equal or more than their industry counter-parts when you consider the stipends and GA salaries. And in an engineering field there is always opportunity in the R&D industry even if you don't go down the professorial track so I guess its a bit of a different situation that that portrayed by the article.
Nevertheless I think we should always consider why we want to do this before embarking on such a long comittment. Last month when my sup asked us what was the reason you all wanted to do a PhD there were a lot of varied answers ranging from "I didn't want to leave school" to "Fulfilling my parents dreams" and we realized we needed to be more motivated than these empty reasons if we realy intend to complete it. I see my seniors down in the dumps sometimes when their experiments refuse to yield anything or when their papers get rejected and you realy need some purpose to keep going through those times. I do hope I will have the strength when my turn comes around.