aybe in America they have the money, contact the embassy, you could get a scholarship" like wtf I have no desire to do a PhD and no desire to emigrate, especially to America??? Where does it come from? And the work I want to do, giving tours and making activities with kids in museums, which I find awesome in every aspect, is apparently "not even a job".

(Side note: my long term goal is to write books for children and ya, what will he say then?)

I'm really tired of being the smart kid, I want to be as stupid as the exact average person so I won't have to deal with people saying "but YoU couLd Do sO mUcH MoRe"
It's not more, it's just different and not for me.

Say exactly that. Doesn't matter what your dad or your teacher say. It's time to put YOU first before anything else. Screw the PhD if you don't want to do it. Go be a tour guide and write books, go be yourself

Have you written any books?

@purplepumpkin When you're alone at night with no one around your regrets will be who talk with you. It's best to give them as little to say as possible. You must always first take care of yourself. If a PhD is too much or not right only you can decide. I can't say much in such an open forum but I understand where you are. Don't worry about others expectations do the best and be the best you can and be happy with it.

Thanks guys. Not gonna lie, it feels good to see you're on the same page as I am. Just reading about the regrets made me feel them... you're right, I absolutely don't want that. Better have a gloomy time now than a much longer depression bout later.
@cakelover Uh do unpublished count? I've tried publishing one (even though I wrote it as a teenager and has exactly the flaws you'd expect from an hypersensitive teen- I still think it has some good stuff but I need to rewrite it entirely) and wrote another, funnier one. I've asked a friend to review my manuscript and I'm correcting a few things before sending it to a publisher -I set a deadline in February.

Good for you! I always admire people that can do things I can't, like creative writing
Do you actually enjoy the writing process

*process?

Yeah tremendously, it's the reason I do it. I love that I can sit down and write anything I want and boom it somehow exists, at least on paper. It's like dreaming but written down.

(Coincidentally I also admire people who can do stuff that completely eludes me, I have a fascination for people who can play the guitar and do magic tricks, amongst other things)

So you have a strong visual imagination?

And that's a good point. The idea is something like: if a mug like me can do thing x, like playing guitar, talk in front of people, juggle etc. then it's not that impressive
But if they can do something that's virtually outside my realm of talent/ability, then it can be awe-inspiring to behold

Aw @purplepumpkin I'm with everyone else on here. Your life. Your decision. Just say eff it to everyone else. Though I'm curious why you wouldn't wanna get a PhD? Because I actually didn't wanna do a Master (cause I hate studying) but im Germany you basically get paid after title, meaning you just have the "right" to more salary because you have a higher degree. That kinda changed my mind, because I'll still be in the same job field, just entitled to more money. But don't get me wrong, I'm not tryna convince you! You do you, and if you know, you know <3

Yes! That's why some cursed comment sections had me in need to rinse my mind with bleach.
And yeah exactly!!! It's like we're our own frame of reference so people who can do stuff we do seem average and "normal", while those who do more are SuperiorTM x)

@mialinay Things work basically the same here but only up until Master. After that, basically if you want to do research, you have access to more jobs in research, and they pay more. If you want to have an "applied" job (aka not do research), since you'd have to get paid more because of your degree despite the fact that it gives you no practical skills (only theoretical), it only means closing doors. (Who would pay someone more for skills that are useless?)
In my case, I think a PhD is intellectual masturbation, it's a bit meaningless and after getting 2 Masters I'm tired of it. Also the teacher is willing to hook me up with subjects such as measuring isotopes in granite used in an XIth church to determine where the stones come from, which can be a fun read but that's all. Even a conference on this would bore me to death.

*if you want to do research, you can get a PhD and...

If I've heard the term "intellectual masturbation" before it was a long time ago lol

If you enjoyed that expression, here's a free gift as bonus: I hesitated with "most of the subjects are like buttfucking a fly". In French, "enculage de mouche" refers to focusing too much on doing something very minor and not relevant in a bigger scheme. We're classy.

RIP to the fly
Interesting expression to learn
Wait, enculage means to engage in the...
I'm definitely using this in future lol