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ppl who say they don't care about money fall into three categories.
1) they are already rich
2) they have no money and don't see themselves in a position to get any in the near future.
3) you are too young to even know what money/responsibility is.
I see people getting masters/phD degrees all the time for the wrong reasons. Mostly because they never really had a real job so they don't want to go into the workforce and they had nothing else lined up. Unless you have an urge to do research for the rest of your life, in most cases, a phD becomes irrelevant in industry. Some companies like them, most don't. So make sure you know what you want to do before you commit yourself to a 2/4 year program.
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8748 Posts
On September 15 2010 01:30 Iranon wrote:Show nested quote +On September 15 2010 00:42 Tien wrote:On September 14 2010 22:35 Iranon wrote:
I really don't care about money.
To the people working in economics, I do not understand you, you soulless husks... Then who's money are you leeching off right now? A large university's money. I realize economists and accountants and such people are necessary for society to function. That does not mean I respect what they do and think of them as anything more than mindless drones in fancy suits who decided that a few decades of 80 hour weeks of drudgery followed by a comfortably early retirement is the best they can do with their lives. They are a necessary evil.
Focus doesn't require close-mindedness and being happy with your work doesn't require despising the work of others. A scholar who is satisfied with and respectful of society as a whole is definitely a better thing than a scholar lacking such sentiments. In this area you are inferior to businessmen, who generally respect academia and its place in society.
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Honestly, i came into this thread thinking this was another newbie asking a yahoo-answers-ish question. But when i saw a red name on the OP, i knew it would be serious.
This is an interesting point of view on the PhD, one that i hope to experience myself one day.
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On September 15 2010 01:30 Iranon wrote:Show nested quote +On September 15 2010 00:42 Tien wrote:On September 14 2010 22:35 Iranon wrote:
I really don't care about money.
To the people working in economics, I do not understand you, you soulless husks... Then who's money are you leeching off right now? A large university's money. I realize economists and accountants and such people are necessary for society to function. That does not mean I respect what they do and think of them as anything more than mindless drones in fancy suits who decided that a few decades of 80 hour weeks of drudgery followed by a comfortably early retirement is the best they can do with their lives. They are a necessary evil.
What is it that you think economists do exactly?
If 'a necessary evil' includes setting monetary policy to maintain low inflation and growth wherever you live or trying to lift millions of people out of poverty then you're right.
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PhD = Slavery - forced labour
So much work, so little spare time, so little gain on the personal economical level
edit: But i agree to OP, i just thought more needed to be added.
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On September 15 2010 02:16 exeexe wrote:
PhD = Slavery - forced labour
So much work, so little spare time, so little gain on the personal economical level
edit: But i agree to OP, i just thought more needed to be added.
People work for free all the time, not everything is about money. Ultimately what matters is if you are happy, of course it is a lot easier to be happy if you are living a financial secure life but above that it doesn't really matter.
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Doing my master right now but I'm really hesitant for the PhD after. I guess it mostly depends on how well my master ends with the memoir and such and if job options are easy to find or not (might be in my sector though).
I'm also strongly considering PhD for teaching which I do as an auxialiary right now and enjoy for undergrade students.
The best thing for me would be a bit of both, teaching and part time job in the same domain. I'm not very interested by research which is a part of a full time university teacher...
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Great analogy, I've always wanted to know more about phds
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On September 15 2010 01:47 TunaFishyMe wrote:
ppl who say they don't care about money fall into three categories.
1) they are already rich
2) they have no money and don't see themselves in a position to get any in the near future.
3) you are too young to even know what money/responsibility is.
I see people getting masters/phD degrees all the time for the wrong reasons. Mostly because they never really had a real job so they don't want to go into the workforce and they had nothing else lined up. Unless you have an urge to do research for the rest of your life, in most cases, a phD becomes irrelevant in industry. Some companies like them, most don't. So make sure you know what you want to do before you commit yourself to a 2/4 year program.
If you are in a position to even consider getting PHD, you are already probably fairly intelligent and have a college degree of some sort. Even the lowest paying jobs you could strive for at this point would pay you ~$40,000 a year which is more than enough to live comfortably. When people say they don't care about money, I think that they usually mean they have enough to live the life that they want and thus don't need to worry about making any more. It doesn't mean that they don't want any money at all and want to mooch off parents/government, they just don't need a 6 figure income to be happy.
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Osaka27132 Posts
I've been thinking about this post and a phd in general recently, but I am not sure I am doing it for the right reasons. I got my masters so that I could apply for some higher end teaching jobs in Japan. However I work in a market with a shrinking population of students and a saturation of teachers. I found that even with the masters I was being out-gunned in a lot of my applications.
There are basically four ways to better my CV at this point. The first would be to improve my Japanese, the second would be to publish more, the third is to be more professionally active in organizations, and the fourth would be a doctorate.
I could do the first three things without going back to school, but I find it hard to engage academically without being in an academic setting. Right now I am focused so much on my job and family life. Going back to school would really put me in the right mindset of publishing and presenting. However, it would crush my Japanese study time, which is already not doing well.
At the end of the day I don't see myself getting a doctorate in order to advance my field or anything noble like that. I just want higher paying and more secure employment. There are a couple paths to that goal so I have to choose the best one.
Thanks for replying to the thread though, there are some good thoughts in here.
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On September 14 2010 22:25 Amber[LighT] wrote:Yah that's why it's a long-term thing. I always wanted to be a teacher (ex-Math Teaching major turned Poli Sci... wtf? lol) I don't know what the process is with regards to becoming a teacher. I always assumed you needed a certain level of education before you could become a professor or an adjunct at least. It's actually pretty funny I thought I wasn't going to have my job until the end of the year so I started applying for substitute positions at the local school districts so I could at least do something with my time 
Generally you need at least a Masters in the field which you which to teach. With a Masters, you will normally only teach Associate programs though some schools may allow you to teach Bachelor programs as well. Look up job openings at some of the larger online Universities, or even local ones with an online program, and apply. It pays better than substituting at a High School and you can do it from home. If you ever decide to get your PhD and move into Academia, you will at least have those years of experience to include in your CV.
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I'm currently in the process of applying for a PhD in mathematics. Soooo many tough decisions
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On September 15 2010 01:50 Liquid`Tyler wrote:Show nested quote +On September 15 2010 01:30 Iranon wrote:On September 15 2010 00:42 Tien wrote:On September 14 2010 22:35 Iranon wrote:
I really don't care about money.
To the people working in economics, I do not understand you, you soulless husks... Then who's money are you leeching off right now? A large university's money. I realize economists and accountants and such people are necessary for society to function. That does not mean I respect what they do and think of them as anything more than mindless drones in fancy suits who decided that a few decades of 80 hour weeks of drudgery followed by a comfortably early retirement is the best they can do with their lives. They are a necessary evil. Focus doesn't require close-mindedness and being happy with your work doesn't require despising the work of others. A scholar who is satisfied with and respectful of society as a whole is definitely a better thing than a scholar lacking such sentiments. In this area you are inferior to businessmen, who generally respect academia and its place in society.
Fair enough. In hindsight that came out as needlessly harsh -- I don't really have this irrational hatred towards all things financial, I just tend towards hyperbole when writing. What I really meant is that I don't think anyone should make something they don't genuinely enjoy their career, and I find it hard to believe that any human being legitimately enjoys say, being a stock broker or an actuary. That, coupled with a small amount of having recently done my undergrad at an Ivy League college where the view "I now have enough connections to pretty easily walk out of here straight into a high-power corporate job that I really don't care about but will make me obscene amounts of money within a decade, and really what else is there to life than making more money faster" was extremely common, and I just find that repulsive. In all likelihood, the sour taste the financial industry has left in my mouth will fade away before too much later in my life, but hey, I'm still present-day me.
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unfortunately im studying psychology... so i HAVE to do a PhD
sigh... 5 years down... 4 to go...
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For those of you interested in becoming professors, please be aware that it an extremely difficult role. Tenure track positions are limited and are based on your productivity/publication record after you complete a post-doc. A PhD != tenure track.
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Osaka27132 Posts
On September 15 2010 10:23 SoySauce wrote:
For those of you interested in becoming professors, please be aware that it an extremely difficult role. Tenure track positions are limited and are based on your productivity/publication record after you complete a post-doc. A PhD != tenure track.
That may be true, but you don't get started on the track without the phd.
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On September 15 2010 01:47 TunaFishyMe wrote:
ppl who say they don't care about money fall into three categories.
1) they are already rich
2) they have no money and don't see themselves in a position to get any in the near future.
3) you are too young to even know what money/responsibility is.
That's pretty arrogant. Either you are too unwise to want money or you know u can't get money is why you would never want it? You sir are the product of a capitalistic society, and it really does make me sad. Like a rat trying to get cheese in a maze, of course the rat is more fortunate than us considering it actually gets the cheese.
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On September 15 2010 10:15 Subversion wrote:unfortunately im studying psychology... so i HAVE to do a PhD sigh... 5 years down... 4 to go...
how come? O.o
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sadly, from that article:
![[image loading]](http://matt.might.net/images/BertrandsLife.png)
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On September 15 2010 07:10 Manifesto7 wrote:
I've been thinking about this post and a phd in general recently, but I am not sure I am doing it for the right reasons. I got my masters so that I could apply for some higher end teaching jobs in Japan. However I work in a market with a shrinking population of students and a saturation of teachers. I found that even with the masters I was being out-gunned in a lot of my applications.
There are basically four ways to better my CV at this point. The first would be to improve my Japanese, the second would be to publish more, the third is to be more professionally active in organizations, and the fourth would be a doctorate.
I could do the first three things without going back to school, but I find it hard to engage academically without being in an academic setting. Right now I am focused so much on my job and family life. Going back to school would really put me in the right mindset of publishing and presenting. However, it would crush my Japanese study time, which is already not doing well.
At the end of the day I don't see myself getting a doctorate in order to advance my field or anything noble like that. I just want higher paying and more secure employment. There are a couple paths to that goal so I have to choose the best one.
Thanks for replying to the thread though, there are some good thoughts in here.
If it were me, I probably work on my Japanese to improve my CV; I like the idea of assimilating to the Japanese collective culture to it's fullest extent. I think it would benefit you and the students you work with a lot more.
That's just me though.
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EPT
