MIT-trained neurosurgeon quit his job at 38 to move to the woods

Should you be inspired by his story? A decision scientist’s take

Cassie Kozyrkov
5 min readJul 16, 2024

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“Always be quitting.”

There’s a viral video going around from an MIT-trained neurosurgeon who quit his job at 38 to move to the woods. Link under the caption of this image:

Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25LUF8GmbFU&ab_channel=GoobieandDoobie

Most of the comments are about his patient observations (those who healed best generally had low-sodium plant-based diets, slept a lot, exercised, rarely drank or smoked, and had little stress) and issues in our healthcare system that led him to experience burnout.

Since I’m heading into the woods myself today to take a small break from the breakneck pace of building a business and make sure the version of me I share with the world is balanced and cheerful, I thought I’d make a little incision into this neurosurgeon’s decision to finally quit.

Everyone in his life, of course, told him to stay. Look at the facts, they said: “You have 15 years of training, extraordinary pay, life-saving skills, and the prestige of being a brain surgeon. You have no other skills, your wife isn’t working, and you have no plan to make money. You cannot quit.”

So, is this guy a hero for quitting?

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Cassie Kozyrkov
Cassie Kozyrkov

Written by Cassie Kozyrkov

Chief Decision Scientist, Google. ❤️ Stats, ML/AI, data, puns, art, theatre, decision science. All views are my own. twitter.com/quaesita