I went as far as a PhD based on little more than what I got good grades in
and what my parents thought would be a good idea, because on an entirely practical level, where only potential earnings count for anything, that seemed to make sense. Sure, I could have carried on, and got the grades, and ended up professor in physics at Cambridge or something. It's not because I wasn't intellectually capable. But I'm not a robot and I simply do not want to live like that.
( Moon Girl Technologies horrendous beanbag, Fri 29 May 2009, 21:00, archived)