Idk about 'average' (what does the average [insert any classification of person] do for the world?), but here is an example of a postdoc feeding the world
actually, no. Borlaug went straight from his PhD into industry (worked for DuPont), then did some wartime stuff. The "postdoc" as a career stage did not exist at the time, most PhDs went into industry or straight into academic research as a professor. The postdoc, I think is an emergent phenomenon that is resulting from the broader academic bubble, largely fueled by several countries' nationalistic fervor to "produce PhDs" as a measurement of national greatness. The consequences have been quite bad.
yup, I completely agree, but I think since that era the structure of science research has changed to the point where examples like him are liable to be few and far between.
