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What is a PhD? - Page 2

Forum Index > General Forum
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Cambium
Profile Blog Joined June 2004
United States16368 Posts
September 14 2010 02:15 GMT
#21
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.
When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.
emperorchampion
Profile Blog Joined December 2008
Canada9496 Posts
September 14 2010 02:18 GMT
#22
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.
TRUEESPORTS || your days as a respected member of team liquid are over
Rev0lution
Profile Blog Joined August 2007
United States1805 Posts
September 14 2010 02:23 GMT
#23
On September 14 2010 11:12 illu wrote:
Show nested quote +
On September 14 2010 10:59 Rev0lution wrote:
I'd have to say that, first of all a phD is not for everyone. For some, it's a way of not taking responsibility and just wanting to stay a student for many years. For others, a phD is their "now what?" moment. After you finish college, your life as a young person ends and for the majority of people it's time to get a fucking job.

And then there's those people who are just so motivated, specially in the sciences. I've met some pretty smart kids who really want to make a difference in their world and want to make their mark in their respective disciplines.

Personally, I could never complete a phD. The workload is overwhelming and the pay sucks. For some degrees like education a phD is highly recommended though and very much necessary.
Additionally, the phD market is saturated with top talent from all over the world. There are better career paths out there.

EDIT: phDComics makes getting a phD look like a getting a rectal exam. It looks like a downward spiral of depression and boredom.


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.
My dealer is my best friend, and we don't even chill.
MamiyaOtaru
Profile Blog Joined September 2008
United States1687 Posts
September 14 2010 02:26 GMT
#24
Pile it Higher and Deeper
Cambium
Profile Blog Joined June 2004
United States16368 Posts
September 14 2010 02:26 GMT
#25
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.
When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.
Eskii
Profile Blog Joined August 2007
Canada544 Posts
September 14 2010 02:33 GMT
#26
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"
TimmyMac
Profile Joined December 2008
Canada499 Posts
September 14 2010 02:40 GMT
#27
On September 14 2010 11:12 illu wrote:
Show nested quote +
On September 14 2010 10:59 Rev0lution wrote:
I'd have to say that, first of all a phD is not for everyone. For some, it's a way of not taking responsibility and just wanting to stay a student for many years. For others, a phD is their "now what?" moment. After you finish college, your life as a young person ends and for the majority of people it's time to get a fucking job.

And then there's those people who are just so motivated, specially in the sciences. I've met some pretty smart kids who really want to make a difference in their world and want to make their mark in their respective disciplines.

Personally, I could never complete a phD. The workload is overwhelming and the pay sucks. For some degrees like education a phD is highly recommended though and very much necessary.
Additionally, the phD market is saturated with top talent from all over the world. There are better career paths out there.

EDIT: phDComics makes getting a phD look like a getting a rectal exam. It looks like a downward spiral of depression and boredom.


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.
Nomak
Profile Joined March 2010
United States32 Posts
September 14 2010 02:40 GMT
#28
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.
Cambium
Profile Blog Joined June 2004
United States16368 Posts
September 14 2010 02:44 GMT
#29
On September 14 2010 11:40 Nomak wrote:
Show nested quote +
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.


Hence the small bump on the circle.
When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.
Djzapz
Profile Blog Joined August 2009
Canada10681 Posts
September 14 2010 02:55 GMT
#30
That's pretty cool
"My incompetence with power tools had been increasing exponentially over the course of 20 years spent inhaling experimental oven cleaners"
Amber[LighT]
Profile Blog Joined June 2005
United States5078 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-09-14 02:56:19
September 14 2010 02:55 GMT
#31
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
"We have unfinished business, I and he."
FakeSteve[TPR]
Profile Blog Joined July 2003
Valhalla18444 Posts
September 14 2010 02:56 GMT
#32
a PhD is where u give science a pimple
Moderatormy tatsu loops r fuckin nice
Kurr
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
Canada2338 Posts
September 14 2010 02:57 GMT
#33
I'm doing a PharmD right now... I'll abbreviate it to PhD and that's good enough for me because 8 years of university is enough for me (2 years left after this one!!).
(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻ | ┻━┻ ︵╰(°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻
Hidden_MotiveS
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
Canada2562 Posts
September 14 2010 03:00 GMT
#34
I don't think most PharmD's do innovative research though do they? At least nothing on the level of one who would actually go into research.
Nomak
Profile Joined March 2010
United States32 Posts
September 14 2010 03:00 GMT
#35
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!
javy_
Profile Joined July 2010
United States1677 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-09-14 03:04:41
September 14 2010 03:02 GMT
#36
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
♪~( ̄。 ̄)
Rope
Profile Joined April 2010
Ireland45 Posts
September 14 2010 03:05 GMT
#37
Starting my PhD in two weeks. I;m scared,but also very excited.
GreEny K
Profile Joined February 2008
Germany7312 Posts
September 14 2010 03:05 GMT
#38
You know, I just don't know what I want to do. I was always happy with getting up to a Bachelors degree but a few years ago the system changed and that degree didn't get as much money a Masters or PhD. So then I decided to get my Masters instead of stopping at Bachelors and now I'm debating a PhD as well. It seems to me that every time I find a level of education that seems good enough I want the next one... I'll see how it goes up until the Masters, then I'll decide if it is worth it to pursue a PhD.
Why would you ever choose failure, when success is an option.
Superiorwolf
Profile Blog Joined March 2007
United States5509 Posts
September 14 2010 03:06 GMT
#39
my mentor always said, PhD = poor hardworking donkey
Check out my stream at www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=315053 and follow me on Twitter @EGSuppy! :)
RosaParksStoleMySeat
Profile Joined December 2009
Japan926 Posts
September 14 2010 03:06 GMT
#40
Well, as my grandfather always says...

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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