>>13999507It's quite literally easier than it was in the past. Edison and Tesla were not paid just because they published a few shitty papers (unlike today). They started by inventing things of worth completely on their own time and budgets. Universities were far more difficult to get admission to as well. Today if you demonstrate even marginal talent you will be able to find employment as an engineer or researcher. There is more financial support than ever before if you can demonstrate that you have potential (we call it gradschool and arguably it is overfunded if anything).
The key thing is though that you actually need to have talent, not just some paper mill certificate. Most people today feel entitled to money before they ever actually do anything of worth. People in the past who did not do well also ended up on the street. Most new grads over-estimate our worth to society and to companies. As a rule of thumb if you are unable to attract funding for your ideas on your own, then your ideas aren't worth anything to research institutions nor companies. Most people have extremely retarded and naive ideas.
