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> Should you trust someone's advice, when you can't pinpoint their motivation? As a Ph.D. student, I run into this problem around three to five times a week, wh

• throwawaygh 5y ago
  This is very different from the Greedy Doctor problem. Why? Because, generally speaking, the answer to this question is "it doesn't matter". A student will never get a job in academia without their thesis advisor's good word. If a student is ready to leave and their thesis advisor isn't ready to let them go, their best option -- assuming they have at least a few publications (for CS) -- is to find an industry job and say "Sorry, my hands are tied on the start date and I need a better paying job for personal reasons. I really wish I could write a better thesis but I think there's enough work here at least to graduate." (BTW: industry is much better than academia. The work is more interesting, the teaching/mentoring is more rewarding, and you'll make enough to retire in your 40s instead of desperately clinging to a job in the increasingly MBA-ified Higher Education Industry until your 80s. The "Academic Life" sucks pre-tenure anyways. If what you want is the so-called comfortable and care-free Full Professor days, just get financial independence in industry first and then go be a professor of practice or even ad junct somewhere for the healthcare and vacation money... which, aside from pay, are both actually low effort and care free!)