system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Academia is toxic. Why?

I hear this quite a bit on here.  I will be starting a PhD soon, and I'd like to understand this concept and it's origins.
gpt
While our academic model has been extremely successful for a long time and continues to produce outstanding results, some of the things that make it work can also facilitate a toxic environment:

\- Academia is a meritocracy.  It's not about how hard you work, how deserving you are, how much you have sacrificed, how well you work with others, etc., it is about results--publications, citations, external recognition, etc.  Many people see that as unfair and it can lead people to treat others poorly in pursuit of their own career success.

\- There is a power imbalance between faculty and everyone else.  Tenure and academic freedom make it hard to punish anyone for all but the most egregious abuses.

\- It is hard.  Succeeding in academia is hard work.  The work is relatively low paid, the competition is fierce, and it takes a lot of sacrifices to excel in that kind of environment.

\- It attracts extreme people.  Ordinary people don't choose academia as a career path.  Those that do are by definition extreme.  Extremely smart, extremely motivated, extremely self-confident -- extremely something.  That makes for an extremely ... interesting ... workplace.