3 ms·
I'm sorry, I just LOLed the moment I read this headline. I'm a PhD student hopefully 6 months away from finishing. PhDs are like running a full marathon. You
by disp 16y ago
I'm sorry, I just LOLed the moment I read this headline.
I'm a PhD student hopefully 6 months away from finishing.
PhDs are like running a full marathon. You don't do it because you want to stay fit; or because you enjoy running -- marathons wear you out, cause injuries, and eventually are far worse for you than regular running. You only do it because
1) you want to learn how to run marathon-sized lengths (i.e. you want to be capable of wrapping your head around a multi year unbounded problem)
2) you want to have a sense of accomplishment
It seems you do want to use this as a way of learning structured thinking. But remember that:
1) Your life is going to be fucking depressing as hell.
2) It's many years of not knowing what the hell you're doing.
3) You're giving up your youth for a shot at something completely unquantifiable.
Bottomline: If your job doesn't require it, stay the hell away from it.
- pmb 16y agoI agree: A PhD is too painful to complete one for non-work reasons. I defended 12 months ago, but I really like teaching at the college level, so I stuck it out. If you don't need one, you almost certainly don't want one. They don't teach you how to focus, they instead get rid of the people who can't. It's a winnowing process at least as much as it is a learning process.
- timcederman 16y agoI think I was 6 months from finishing for several years.