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I’ve seen your posts before so I am pretty sure you’re a CS PhD student. It is important to remember that getting a PhD in CS is unusually good. There’s a lot o

I’ve seen your posts before so I am pretty sure you’re a CS PhD student. It is important to remember that getting a PhD in CS is unusually good. There’s a lot of money, limited need for expensive equipment, good job prospects in academia, and little stigma about going into industry. Also, it seems to me that a culture of abusive behavior and hazing has not yet set in. None of this is true in the natural sciences, and advisors often do not treat students with even the basic dignity due to any human. This kind of thing is rare in computer science.

YeGoblynQueenne 8y ago
Machine learning actually- in particular, Inductive Logic Programming. But, yes, it's basically CS. I appreciate that there's a difference between different fields. I'm also aware that the article above is about research students in the US- I'm in a UK university.
- grigjd3 8y ago
  So the natural sciences aren't universally bad. My PhD advisor in relativity was a terrific guy to work with and I saw him as a friend and mentor. The problem is that the supply of people seeking PhDs, post-docs, and tenure track jobs in the natural sciences so far outstrips the available jobs (often a hundred to one) that there is little natural pressure to suppress bad behavior. In fact, the assholes tend to thrive because it turns out that taking advantage of others can get you ahead.
analog31 8y ago
Also, there's enough demand in CS and engineering, that being a professor isn't necessarily seen as the top of the heap, and profs tend to be a bit more humble. A prof knows that they could walk out the door tomorrow and have a good career, and knows that the students could too. There's also something to be said for working in a field where you can take the weekend off, and your project doesn't start to decompose.

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I’ve seen your posts before so I am pretty sure you’re a CS PhD student. It is important to remember that getting a PhD in CS is unusually good. There’s a lot o

by currymj 8y ago

YeGoblynQueenne 8y ago
Machine learning actually- in particular, Inductive Logic Programming. But, yes, it's basically CS. I appreciate that there's a difference between different fields. I'm also aware that the article above is about research students in the US- I'm in a UK university.
- grigjd3 8y ago
  So the natural sciences aren't universally bad. My PhD advisor in relativity was a terrific guy to work with and I saw him as a friend and mentor. The problem is that the supply of people seeking PhDs, post-docs, and tenure track jobs in the natural sciences so far outstrips the available jobs (often a hundred to one) that there is little natural pressure to suppress bad behavior. In fact, the assholes tend to thrive because it turns out that taking advantage of others can get you ahead.
analog31 8y ago
Also, there's enough demand in CS and engineering, that being a professor isn't necessarily seen as the top of the heap, and profs tend to be a bit more humble. A prof knows that they could walk out the door tomorrow and have a good career, and knows that the students could too. There's also something to be said for working in a field where you can take the weekend off, and your project doesn't start to decompose.