system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
How do you come to terms with your place on the global academic ladder?

I mean, it seems like there are always better researchers, at better institutions with better facilities and opportunities.  Except for the tiny minority at the very top, most people have to accept that even with a PhD they are far from the top (or work like mad to get there).  I guess it's a kind of inferiority complex, but in such a competitive environment it would seem inevitable.  

I guess I tell myself that I'm just not as intelligent as others, or didn't have the same opportunities, or I don't want to sacrifice my lifestyle to be at the top.  

Anyone care to comment?
gpt
Much of this seems like a dire lack of perspective (along with a healthy dose of feeling sorry for oneself).  Perhaps you should focus on the fact that you have had the privilege of attending relatively great schools in pursuit of your dreams, which countless others in this world will never have a chance to attempt regardless of ambition or aptitude.  It's easy to lose sight of the real world when wrapped up in academia, but if we've made it through an advanced degree program then we've achieved elite status in terms of education and skills (which translates to money and power), which is out of reach for the majority of the world's population.