My Response to Thomas Sowell

Last week’s Ricochet podcast, at Ricochet.com, featured Thomas Sowell.  Dr. Sowell is a fellow at the Hoover Institute at Stanford and is the author of many works, among which I find Basic Economics, Economic Facts and Fallacies, and A Conflict of Visions to be very influential.  Put as simply as possible, Thomas Sowell is one of the most clear, influential and intelligent writers of our age.

Dr. Sowell speaks with the boys from Ricochet on Republican Presidential candidates, his new book, The Thomas Sowell Reader, and gives an answer to a more personal question from me on his life as an academic.  The interview takes place from minutes 13 to 37 in the podcast, if you are only interested in hearing only Dr. Sowell speak.

Dr. Thomas Sowell

I heard Dr. Sowell remark once that as a young academic, he was offered a job as a photographer.  He turned down the photography job, chose to remain in the academy, and has taught at places like Cornell, UCLA and Amherst.  For the past 30 years, he has been a senior fellow at the Hoover Institute.  At 32:17, Dr. Sowell responds directly to my question – if he could choose his career again, between academia and photography, what would he choose?

Almost immediately, Dr. Sowell says,

“Photography.  Looking at it from the point of view of my own life, I’m sure I would’ve had far fewer hassles as a photographer than I have gone through otherwise.  I would’ve avoided having an academic career which is not a happy career in many ways.”  Dr. Sowell goes on to elaborate, “I think there are other places [other than academia] where I think I would’ve been happier personally but you play the hand that was dealt to you.”

As a young academic, I am constantly searching for insight on vocation and the paths we choose in life.  I look around me, in class and in the lab, and I see other young academics blandly shuffling through their choices, confident in the received wisdom that a pot of gold and respect lie at the end of the rainbow of the PhD journey.  Most of them don’t consider what they give up as an academic: time with family, salary, time for hobbies, the comfort of spending time with people who aren’t vicious atheist progressives, etc.

I must confess, I think about this question a lot.  I weigh the benefits of an academic career versus its draw backs.  Could I be happier somewhere else?  What would I give up if I were a pipe fitter rather than a researcher?  What would be the effects on my family, on the world?  Certainly there are benefits to the ideal academic life:  you get to perform research, you get paid to think, you get some version of veiled respect from the public at large and people think you’re smart (smarter than you are in reality, probably).

Dr. Sowell has spent the last 50 years in or near the academic life.  He has influenced uncountable legions of conservative political and economic thinkers.  And, he freely admits that he would gladly trade it all, if given the choice, for a career in photography.  It must be noted that Dr. Sowell is an extremely talented photographer.  The world likely would’ve been enriched greatly had Thomas Sowell devoted his life to the discipline.  You can view some of his pictures here, through his web site. 

But what would the world have lost if Dr. Sowell had become a photographer?  I can tell you what I would’ve lost if Dr. Sowell had become a photographer -  I would’ve lost a good many more arguments in the trenches of the academy.  I would’ve lost a vital source for clear and consistent conservative thought.  I may have lost my mind.

If Dr. Sowell had been a photographer, he may indeed have been happier, but we all would’ve lost something.  We would’ve lost his wonderful insight these past years.  Is it a reasonable trade off?  Maybe yes, maybe no.