To: Bob Swift who wrote (1901 ) 3/4/1999 8:23:00 AM From: Neuroguy Read Replies (1) | Respond to
Bob - LOL! That's quite a theoretical argument in my case!! But we certainly have shared the same dream! Sunning oneself by the beach in a South Sea villa, copies of Nature and the WSJ on the table.... However, the fact of the matter is that one simply can't run a good lab from a distance. If I made TONS of money from SEPR or any other company, and you did say "TONS", then hmmmm.... First you have to decide whether what you do now is a passion/vocation or a job. Is it something that you would do rich or poor? For me it's a passion. So if we're making just hideous amounts of $$$ in this dream, then I'd probably... ummm.... carry on what I'm doing, and find a way to fold the proceeds (with the usual tax breaks) back into my work by founding an institute that would fund both my work and that of others in it. The South Sea dream is unworkable if you want to remain on the cutting edge, since you can't run a good lab from a distance. And I wouldn't want to run one as a hobby - I'd soon become a joke in my field! So I'd plough some of the money into improving my lot here or elsewhere (La Jolla?), use some to feather my personal life in terms of lifestyle, and the rest would be reinvested to keep the dream alive. I know people in my line of work that have come into fortunes through inheritance, and very few have ever left the business that were any good at it in the first place. They did buy mansions with stables filled with Arabians and commute to work in a Porsche or private plane, but they stayed every bit as focused on science as they were before, after a few years of getting used to it. But if you're not that "into" what you do - take the money and run. Chase that dream, and try doing something different. Hope this helps...!
