4 ms·

I don't have a PhD, which is why I have a tremendous amount of respect for PhDs. I hope my question is not too obvious, but when OP says that one will get a "Ph

I don't have a PhD, which is why I have a tremendous amount of respect for PhDs. I hope my question is not too obvious, but when OP says that one will get a "PhD level of education," isn't he missing the fact that the point of a PhD is to do original research, and therefore not just "ingest" knowledge, but actually create new knowledge for humanity?

Xophmeister 11y ago
We stand on the shoulders of giants. One is awarded a PhD for producing original research, but it doesn't magically materialise from the ether. Rather, it is a refinement and/or synthesis of what preceded.
darkroasted 11y ago
"I hope my question is not too obvious, but when OP says that one will get a "PhD level of education," isn't he missing the fact that the point of a PhD is to do original research, and therefore not just "ingest" knowledge, but actually create new knowledge for humanity" And furthermore, much of the work and reading material (especially in the social science, not sure about other fields) is really about jumping through hoops, learning the game, knowing the rituals of your particular tribe, and knowing how to cite other academics so that you can properly join the social network. If you are just trying to learn for the sake of knowing, 95% of the readings and the problem sets are irrelevant.
- NhanH 11y ago
  I would like to hear the opinions of other PhDs on the validity of this comment. Specifically if it's a universal problems to all fields, and whether the actual PhD time can be cut short had it not been an actual issue?
  - jofer 11y ago
    Comments like the granparent's frustrate me. Often they're from people who have good reasons, but I feel that it paints a skewed picture. I have a PhD, but am no longer in Academia. However, I think the "systematic" problems with academia that people talk about stem from a misunderstanding about what research and peer review are. A PhD has _nothing_ to do with coursework and _everything_ to do with conceptualizing, managing, and completing projects then finally _communicating_ the results. Yes, it's about original research, but that usually doesn't mean that it's done in isolation. Yes, you need to be conversant in your field. Yes, that means being up to date with what other people are doing. At the end of the day, though, the key question is, "Can you convince other people to buy into your work?". A large part of it, for better or worse, is salesmanship. (Also know as "communication".) That's by design. If you can convince several intelligent, skeptical, and yes, biased people that you are right, then there's a good chance that you are. People are human. They have agendas. It's not a perfect system. Nonetheless, peer review mostly works. I think there are things we can do to improve it, but the picture most people seem to have of academia is overly pessimistic, i.m.o. I would argue that it works fairly well, for the most part.
- wfo 11y ago
  In Mathematics at least this is very much not the case.
  - nextos 11y ago
    Math is sadly an exception.
skolor 11y ago
I've always liked this - http://matt.might.net/articles/phd-school-in-pictures/ http://matt.might.net/articles/phd-school-in-pictures/ - as a description of what exactly a PhD is.

Xophmeister 11y ago

We stand on the shoulders of giants. One is awarded a PhD for producing original research, but it doesn't magically materialise from the ether. Rather, it is a refinement and/or synthesis of what preceded.

darkroasted 11y ago

"I hope my question is not too obvious, but when OP says that one will get a "PhD level of education," isn't he missing the fact that the point of a PhD is to do original research, and therefore not just "ingest" knowledge, but actually create new knowledge for humanity" And furthermore, much of the work and reading material (especially in the social science, not sure about other fields) is really about jumping through hoops, learning the game, knowing the rituals of your particular tribe, and knowing how to cite other academics so that you can properly join the social network. If you are just trying to learn for the sake of knowing, 95% of the readings and the problem sets are irrelevant.

NhanH 11y ago
I would like to hear the opinions of other PhDs on the validity of this comment. Specifically if it's a universal problems to all fields, and whether the actual PhD time can be cut short had it not been an actual issue?
- jofer 11y ago
  Comments like the granparent's frustrate me. Often they're from people who have good reasons, but I feel that it paints a skewed picture. I have a PhD, but am no longer in Academia. However, I think the "systematic" problems with academia that people talk about stem from a misunderstanding about what research and peer review are. A PhD has _nothing_ to do with coursework and _everything_ to do with conceptualizing, managing, and completing projects then finally _communicating_ the results. Yes, it's about original research, but that usually doesn't mean that it's done in isolation. Yes, you need to be conversant in your field. Yes, that means being up to date with what other people are doing. At the end of the day, though, the key question is, "Can you convince other people to buy into your work?". A large part of it, for better or worse, is salesmanship. (Also know as "communication".) That's by design. If you can convince several intelligent, skeptical, and yes, biased people that you are right, then there's a good chance that you are. People are human. They have agendas. It's not a perfect system. Nonetheless, peer review mostly works. I think there are things we can do to improve it, but the picture most people seem to have of academia is overly pessimistic, i.m.o. I would argue that it works fairly well, for the most part.
wfo 11y ago
In Mathematics at least this is very much not the case.
- nextos 11y ago
  Math is sadly an exception.

skolor 11y ago

I've always liked this - http://matt.might.net/articles/phd-school-in-pictures/ http://matt.might.net/articles/phd-school-in-pictures/ - as a description of what exactly a PhD is.