4 ms·

> I haven't got a PhD but I can (at least) learn and think on that level. How do you know this? More pertinently, how do I know this? How can you convince othe

by gphilip 13y ago

> I haven't got a PhD but I can (at least) learn and think on that level. How do you know this? More pertinently, how do I know this? How can you convince others that you are "at PhD level"? Well, one way to do this is to do something "at PhD level". Build something which (i) is appealing to the kind of people whom you would like to have as colleagues, and (ii) shows your mastery of the full stack (as you define it). Put it up on GitHub, and let others see it. Show them the code, as the saying goes. What would such a thing be? Knowing what the "interesting" problems are is part of "being at PhD level". So you probably already know what to solve, or it will come to you if you think about it a bit. Good luck with your efforts!

basdevries 13y ago
Thanks for your answer :) I think you've misunderstood a couple of things. Or more spefically: I haven't been clear enough on a couple of things. I know I can think on a PhD level, because I - was smarter in some eareas than my teacher in cs (who had a PhD in cs) - I've worked with people who mastered cs and during that time I felt like I was thinking on the same level as they were. - I could try to do an IQ test but most (smart)people notice whitin a matter of minutes if the person in front of them is equally smart. The thing you're missing tho, is the following: I'm Mike Ross before he meets Harvey; I can pass the LSAT of cs but can't be a competitive programmer yet. If i <em>was</em>, I would apply as an engineer at Google and learn these things in my 20% time. The Harvey I'm looking for must be able to teach me ao things how to be a good one, and at the same time challange me to bring on new clients etc etc.
- ulfw 13y ago
  You watch too much TV.
  - basdevries 13y ago
    You may argue that, but it is undoubtly a good methaphor to describe my question. Won't you agree?
    - recursive 13y ago
      It might be. But I've never heard of it. Is it from a show?
- blktiger 13y ago
  People with PHDs are necessarily smarter than other people. Of course, getting a PHD takes some level of intelligence and many people with PHDs are extremely smart, but like many things in life getting a PHD is largely about dedication and hard work. Additionally, people with PHDs are generally trained to be extremely knowledgeable in a very specific sub-set of a particular field. This is why companies like Google hire people with PHDs. They have specialized knowledge which it would take others years to learn. My advice, go to college for a CS degree. Many companies won't hire someone who doesn't have a degree even if they have "real-world experience". In addition a CS degree will give you a good, solid foundation on which to build your skills. Some of the things you learn in a CS degree aren't well documented elsewhere and are difficult to learn otherwise. If you really are as smart as you think you are then you can take a very heavy course-load to complete your degree faster.
- jacques_chester 13y ago
  > I - was smarter in some eareas than my teacher in cs (who had a PhD in cs) Eligibility for PhDs isn't calculated by pairwise comparison. It's judged by original research. Which requires a lot of study, a lot of study, just to take you to the outer boundaries of the sub-sub-sub-sub-field your PhD happens to be in. One subject I was taught in a quasi-postgraduate setting (in Australia we have a kind of mini-PhD called "Honours") was evolutionary systems. In one subfield of that topic, the original paper appeared about 30 years ago. A year later there were a few dozen papers. Within five years there were tens of thousands of papers. Conferences. Study groups in computer science departments around the world. To get a PhD in that field, you need to exhaustively search the literature -- surveying and reading potentially hundreds or even thousands of papers and projects -- just to figure out what has yet to be researched. Just to get to the starting line. That takes several years. PhDs are hard work.
  - adamnemecek 13y ago
    TIL you don't get a PhD for being able to write PHP, Python, js(by choice) and HTML/CSS.

by gphilip 13y ago

basdevries 13y ago

Thanks for your answer :) I think you've misunderstood a couple of things. Or more spefically: I haven't been clear enough on a couple of things. I know I can think on a PhD level, because I - was smarter in some eareas than my teacher in cs (who had a PhD in cs) - I've worked with people who mastered cs and during that time I felt like I was thinking on the same level as they were. - I could try to do an IQ test but most (smart)people notice whitin a matter of minutes if the person in front of them is equally smart. The thing you're missing tho, is the following: I'm Mike Ross before he meets Harvey; I can pass the LSAT of cs but can't be a competitive programmer yet. If i <em>was</em>, I would apply as an engineer at Google and learn these things in my 20% time. The Harvey I'm looking for must be able to teach me ao things how to be a good one, and at the same time challange me to bring on new clients etc etc.

ulfw 13y ago
You watch too much TV.
- basdevries 13y ago
  You may argue that, but it is undoubtly a good methaphor to describe my question. Won't you agree?
  - recursive 13y ago
    It might be. But I've never heard of it. Is it from a show?
blktiger 13y ago
People with PHDs are necessarily smarter than other people. Of course, getting a PHD takes some level of intelligence and many people with PHDs are extremely smart, but like many things in life getting a PHD is largely about dedication and hard work. Additionally, people with PHDs are generally trained to be extremely knowledgeable in a very specific sub-set of a particular field. This is why companies like Google hire people with PHDs. They have specialized knowledge which it would take others years to learn. My advice, go to college for a CS degree. Many companies won't hire someone who doesn't have a degree even if they have "real-world experience". In addition a CS degree will give you a good, solid foundation on which to build your skills. Some of the things you learn in a CS degree aren't well documented elsewhere and are difficult to learn otherwise. If you really are as smart as you think you are then you can take a very heavy course-load to complete your degree faster.
jacques_chester 13y ago
> I - was smarter in some eareas than my teacher in cs (who had a PhD in cs) Eligibility for PhDs isn't calculated by pairwise comparison. It's judged by original research. Which requires a lot of study, a lot of study, just to take you to the outer boundaries of the sub-sub-sub-sub-field your PhD happens to be in. One subject I was taught in a quasi-postgraduate setting (in Australia we have a kind of mini-PhD called "Honours") was evolutionary systems. In one subfield of that topic, the original paper appeared about 30 years ago. A year later there were a few dozen papers. Within five years there were tens of thousands of papers. Conferences. Study groups in computer science departments around the world. To get a PhD in that field, you need to exhaustively search the literature -- surveying and reading potentially hundreds or even thousands of papers and projects -- just to figure out what has yet to be researched. Just to get to the starting line. That takes several years. PhDs are hard work.
- adamnemecek 13y ago
  TIL you don't get a PhD for being able to write PHP, Python, js(by choice) and HTML/CSS.