4 ms·

Luckily now we have this useful FAQ on dealing with doctoral exams: http://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/faq-the-snake-fight-portion-of-your-thesis-defense http:

• betenoire 10y ago
  What does the snake represent?
  • GFK_of_xmaspast 10y ago
    Benzene.
  • Natsu 10y ago
    Thesis defense, I think.
  • a_olt 10y ago
    It represents the type of A/V cable used to connect your laptop to the projector
    • jawilson2 10y ago
      Oh, so THAT's why my projector that I used for my PhD defense didn't display red.
      • mcguire 10y ago
        <dijkstra> Why, did the red elements mean something special? </dijkstra>
    • rubidium 10y ago
      That is only one of many possible snakes. It was not known to exist in thesis defenses before circa 1995. Since that time it has become a regular foe.
  • dragonwriter 10y ago
    FTFA: Q: This whole snake thing is just a metaphor, right? A: I assure you, the snakes are very real.
    • PhasmaFelis 10y ago
      Yeah, that's great, but what does it actually represent? The writer is doing the usual "wink wink, nudge nudge, know what I mean, get it" thing, but I never did postgrad and I don't get it.
      • true_religion 10y ago
        I believe they're alluding to your PhD defense, due to questions like "does my advisor pick the snake?". Your advisor doesn't pick whom you do your defense to, but its not a random choice either.
      • true_religion 10y ago
        I believe they're alluding to your PhD defense, due to questions like "does my advisor pick the snake?". Your advisor doesn't pick whom you do your defense to, but its not a random choice either.
  • musgravepeter 10y ago
    I'm assuming it's the exam team member that wants to torpedo a student to show how smart s/he is by asking something tricky or tangential. I was lucky. My supervisor asked for recommendations for who to ask from the Math department and I replied "a push-over". He thought for a second then said "Ok, I know who to ask."
  • mcguire 10y ago
    It depends on which department you ask.
  • mturmon 10y ago
    My advisor occasionally kept snakes. He asked the question "What is a random variable?" in an EE qualifying exam (not mine). The correct incantation ("A measurable function into the reals") was not heard from the candidate. A lot of other stuff was heard, at length. The cure for this particular case of snake bite was a remedial class in measure theory.
• kbenson 10y ago
  Although if you get a poisonous snake, it often means that there was a problem with the formatting of your bibliography. That's genius.
  • mbreese 10y ago
    Q: Do I have to kill the snake? A: University guidelines state that you have to “defeat” the snake. There are many ways to accomplish this. I'm pretty sure that I just waited the snake out until it got tired.
    • kbenson 10y ago
      I never actually went in for the curriculum that included advanced study with the non-optional arena fight at the end, but I can appreciate biting[1] satire done so well. 1: That's not a pun. A pun has no place near something this well constructed.
    • mcguire 10y ago
      Me, too. But then... "Q: Could the snake kill me? "A: That almost never happens. But if you’re worried, just make sure that you write a good thesis." Follow-up Q: How do I know whether my thesis is good? A: Only by the size of the snake you are presented with. If he hadn't died of boredom, I would have had a very large snake.
    • kaitai 10y ago
      I got the committee to argue among themselves about the snake, and then another class needed the classroom (2 hrs after start).
• njloof 10y ago
  ... which reminds me of this: http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/shivers/autoweapons.html http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/shivers/autoweapons.html
  • mindcrime 10y ago
    I'd almost bet that if you posted that to a public list/newsgroup today, you'd get A. a call/visit from the FBI, ATF, etc., B. suspended or fired by your organization, and/or C. harassed to no end by idiots on the Internet, probably including being doxed. I hope I'm wrong...