I declare my resignation from the institutional framework of modern academia. I do not resign because I disdain the pursuit of knowledge; I do so because of the long-lost values of corrupted academia, which has strayed from its noble origins. The values which the academia was founded upon and which the academia has given up on are the following now-unspoken laws of scholarship:
- One must only and only seek and accept the truth with curiosity and critical rigor, unswayed by personal biases;
- One must not ever expect gratification out of generosity from others but only out of the unspoken feeling of reaching the truth;
- One must not take credit for others’ work when the credit is given;
- One must respect others and be respected by others;
- No political position or hierarchical status ought to give one an academic superiority or inferiority over others in conducting truth-seeking research;
- Bureaucracy ought to neither prevent nor delay one’s research from reaching new heights and pushing the current boundaries of science;
- One will gain a reputation in the academic hierarchy due to the enlightenment of others from one’s truth-seeking work;
- The truth is not to be found in the world outside; it is instead to be found in one’s acts of sincerity and honesty.
I refuse to perpetuate a system that betrays its own ideals, where politics obstructs inquiry, bureaucracy hampers progress, status and reputation overshadows merit, quantity defines quality, gratification forestalls the truth, and the truth is found by means of dishonesty. I step away from the opaque walls of the corrupted academia to tinker on my own. My work will continue, not for titles or grants, but for the sake of truth. Thinkers of the academia are sidelined with self-preservation while their freedom is gradually taken away under the guise of a dishonest academic reputation. This is not the academia I pledged to serve.
I invite others to keep the correct academic values and honor the spirit of true science over the shadow of its current form. Let us build our science on our own without falling into the trap of illusions and false promises of self-serving institutions and corporations. Let us become free and independent of the evil!
Ali Khudiyev
Willing To Become An Independent Researcher Someday…
(date unknown)