EPTI know some people do PhD because they enjoy what they are researching, but I know, at the same time, a lot of people (Chinese students from China in particular) just do it for the degree, which I think is ridiculous.
What is a PhD? - Page 2
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Cambium
United States16368 Posts
I know some people do PhD because they enjoy what they are researching, but I know, at the same time, a lot of people (Chinese students from China in particular) just do it for the degree, which I think is ridiculous. | ||
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emperorchampion
Canada9496 Posts
On September 14 2010 11:15 Cambium wrote: I'm not a research person, as I find it very boring reading all sorts of papers and such, so Master's is definitely the termination point for me (which I am doing right now). I know some people do PhD because they enjoy what they are researching, but I know, at the same time, a lot of people (Chinese students from China in particular) just do it for the degree, which I think is ridiculous. Agreed, PhD's generally don't give you a huge edge in industry as far as I know. I think that unless you really want to further your field, teach, or learn more then go for it- otherwise... it just seems like a waste of time. | ||
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Rev0lution
United States1805 Posts
On September 14 2010 11:12 illu wrote: Funny you brought up phdcomics. I just want to say that although it's very funny, the views in the comics are largely biased toward phd students in biological sciences and chemistry. I believe those fields require so little technicality that doing a PhD in those fields is the same as doing a job as a lab technician for a PI. When you read their thesis it is really obvious that nothing fancy is going on - as just about anyone can understand it after spending two weeks on it on the relevant background information. Doing a PhD degree in mathematics, physics, computer science, and statistics is completely different from what phdcomic depicts. In those fields you are truly approaching the boundary of human knowledge and you really have to learn a lot in order to complete it. PhD thesis of students from those departments are highly original and they are mostly products of true ingenuity instead of sleeping in a lab for 2 years straight. Did you just take a dump on two entire fields of science? You make it seem like every man and woman on physics, math, stats and computer science is a genius contributing greatly so society and a phd student in chemistry and biology could be any moron straight out of high school. | ||
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MamiyaOtaru
United States1687 Posts
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Cambium
United States16368 Posts
On September 14 2010 10:59 Aberu wrote: There are computer programmers I know that have far more knowledge having worked in the field for 30 years than these new young "whipper-snappers" could gain with a PhD in Comp Sci (if anyone even goes for that). I don't know what you mean by "if anyone even goes for that", but, I'd like to inform you that CS is a very popular field for PhD studies. When you say "more knowledge", in most cases, these are practical knowledge with regards to programming tools and languages, rarely is this actual computer science knowledge; so you are comparing apples to oranges in the first place. Now assuming that someone with 30 years of industry experience has "more knowledge" in general than a person with a PhD degree, but the PhD will know something in much greater depth than the industry programmer. A person with a PhD is essentially an expert on one specific field. Ironically, this is exactly what Mani's article is trying to portray, so I don't know why you feel so compelled to make such an ignorant and derogatory comment. | ||
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Eskii
Canada544 Posts
"being an expert means knowing more and more about less and less" | ||
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TimmyMac
Canada499 Posts
On September 14 2010 11:12 illu wrote: Funny you brought up phdcomics. I just want to say that although it's very funny, the views in the comics are largely biased toward phd students in biological sciences and chemistry. I believe those fields require so little technicality that doing a PhD in those fields is the same as doing a job as a lab technician for a PI. When you read their thesis it is really obvious that nothing fancy is going on - as just about anyone can understand it after spending two weeks on it on the relevant background information. Doing a PhD degree in mathematics, physics, computer science, and statistics is completely different from what phdcomic depicts. In those fields you are truly approaching the boundary of human knowledge and you really have to learn a lot in order to complete it. PhD thesis of students from those departments are highly original and they are mostly products of true ingenuity instead of sleeping in a lab for 2 years straight. This makes no sense. In any field you're studying something original and novel in order to achieve a PhD - that's the whole point. Sure it's nice to think that all the math-based sciences are somehow more important than anything else if that's the field you're in, but in reality it's just the level of jargon and requisite knowledge of a bunch of theories and shit that makes it seem like you're somehow in another realm. | ||
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Nomak
United States32 Posts
On September 14 2010 11:33 Eskii wrote: My father who has been the key note speaker on a few seminars on this topic has always said that "being an expert means knowing more and more about less and less" This is very true to a point. I have a PhD in I/O Psychology and it all comes down to contributing new knowledge to your field. You start to learn more and more about less and less until you become the world's expert on one particular piece of research. | ||
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Cambium
United States16368 Posts
On September 14 2010 11:40 Nomak wrote: This is very true to a point. I have a PhD in I/O Psychology and it all comes down to contributing new knowledge to your field. You start to learn more and more about less and less until you become the world's expert on one particular piece of research. Hence the small bump on the circle. | ||
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Djzapz
Canada10681 Posts
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Amber[LighT]
United States5078 Posts
And I would say my current career path is going in the complete opposite direction of where my masters study brought me... kinda sad tbh  | ||
FakeSteve[TPR]
Valhalla18444 Posts
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Kurr
Canada2338 Posts
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Hidden_MotiveS
Canada2562 Posts
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Nomak
United States32 Posts
On September 14 2010 11:55 Amber[LighT] wrote: pretty good stuff here. Just got my masters and might go back for a PhD if the job market doesn't pick up in the next year or so :/ And I would say my current career path is going in the complete opposite direction of where my masters study brought me... kinda sad tbh Have you considered teaching? You can have an additional job teaching online courses. Their popularity has grown quite a bit and you can earn some extra income for those times when things are rough. It only takes about 30-60 minutes a night (per course) and can be done while watching SC2 streams!  Unless you are seeking employment in Academia, or a research role, a PhD will not help that much. If anything, it could hinder your search because of the stereotype that some people have about someone with a PhD. Be sure it will fit with your goals before spending the next few years collecting loans! | ||
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javy_
United States1677 Posts
On September 14 2010 11:12 illu wrote: PhD thesis of students from those departments are highly original and they are mostly products of true ingenuity instead of sleeping in a lab for 2 years straight. sounds like someone is bitter that all the money is being dumped into bio right now. if you think chem and bio phd students simply sleep in a lab and have no originality, then you are clueless | ||
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Rope
Ireland45 Posts
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GreEny K
Germany7312 Posts
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Superiorwolf
United States5509 Posts
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RosaParksStoleMySeat
Japan926 Posts
I have a BS, an MS, and a Ph.D: Bullshit, more shit, and piled hip deep. ...My grandfather is not a very educated man, but his perspective is pretty funny. Anyway, in my experience in a Ph.D. program, it has to be pure intrinsic motivation. There is no way that you will survive a Ph.D. program without a simple desire to satisfy your hunger for more knowledge about the subject. Getting a Ph.D. for economic reasons, to command respect from others, or to prove a point to yourself is incredibly irresponsible. It's just terrible reasoning for going to graduate school, and leads nowhere. | ||
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