The GP is spouting uninformed opinions and then patting themselves on the back for being an "outsider".

BTW I have nothing to gain from 'spouting uninformed opinions'.

My opinion is mostly based on my own interactions with certain academics, and others I've had the opportunity to directly observe.

Perhaps the patterns I've seen are not universal. But that doesn't mean that they are not common or, as you seem to suggest, do not exist at all.

This sort of thread pops up again and again on HN. It's frustrating to read comment after comment of people being confidently wrong about your vocation.

There is much snark on HN about MBAs and PMs being useless. I read those comments with curiosity to understand what I might learn.

Those commenters' experience is not universal, but neither is my own. Some of the comments might be based on virtually no evidence, but that's probably not the majority.