[Comet]

Every fall, I explain to a fresh batch of Ph.D. students what a Ph.D. is.

It's hard to describe it in words.

So, I use pictures.

Read below for the illustrated guide to a Ph.D.

http://matt.might.net/articles/phd-school-in-pictures/

[Maestro]

That is a good one, especially the last picture, which if keep it perspective.

[escobar929]

so true

[Bimmer Nerd]

That's sick !

[r53s65e90]

Very good explanation of one aspect of the Ph.D.: knowledge

He left out: effort, mentality, perseverance, creativity... to name a few.

If you have a Ph.D. you "get it" but you cannot really describe it. If you don't you will never "get it".

[radix]

Originally Posted by r53s65e90

If you don't you will never "get it".

no

[BTM]

Originally Posted by r53s65e90

He left out: effort, mentality, perseverance, creativity... to name a few.

If you have a Ph.D. you "get it" but you cannot really describe it. If you don't you will never "get it".

I hope you don't think these traits you listed are exclusive only to those with PhD's...

[r53s65e90]

Originally Posted by BTM

I hope you don't think these traits you listed are exclusive only to those with PhD's...

The only thing exlusive to PhDs is the Ph.D. degree.

[BMW F22]

I have a Ph.D. too- pretty huge d*ck!!

[Dan in PA]

Originally Posted by r53s65e90

If you have a Ph.D. you "get it" but you cannot really describe it. If you don't you will never "get it".

After you made such a statement, it's difficult for me to believe you have a Ph.D.

[BTM]

Originally Posted by BMW E90

I have a Ph.D. too- pretty huge d*ck!!

x2

[Hawkeye]

I thought MS stood for More fo the Same and PhD was Piled Higher and Deeper.

[wj4]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye

I thought MS stood for More fo the Same and PhD was Piled Higher and Deeper.

What if one doesn't have an MS, but rather an MA?

[Seminole]

I just graduated last weekend with my M.S. and while I was sitting in my seat during the ceremony I started to read through the commencement book to kill time. I'll post up some of the awesome title's that people had for dissertation papers, but the best one was someone who got their Ph.D. in creative writing and their dissertation was titled "Monster Truck Seduction."

Someone else's was "Like This."

[just4kickz]

definitely funny... but there's a lot of interesting things worth pursuing and that PhD work can make a big difference.

one of my friends is working at Stanford helping to develop a treatment to allow females undergoing chemotherapy to retain their fertility by grafting follicle tissue onto a immunocompromised mice host. after chemo treatment, they can take those follicles out and re-implant them into the ovary and thus retain the individual's fertility.

that bit of research, might be a small dent in the bigger picture, but it is definitely worth pursuing... and the pictures leave out the impact a small dent can create

[BTM]

Originally Posted by just4kickz

definitely funny... but there's a lot of interesting things worth pursuing and that PhD work can make a big difference.

one of my friends is working at Stanford helping to develop a treatment to allow females undergoing chemotherapy to retain their fertility by grafting follicle tissue onto a immunocompromised mice host. after chemo treatment, they can take those follicles out and re-implant them into the ovary and thus retain the individual's fertility.

that bit of research, might be a small dent in the bigger picture, but it is definitely worth pursuing... and the pictures leave out the impact a small dent can create

I don't think anyone is arguing that PhDs are without merit and not worth pursuing, they definitely exist for a reason, a very good one at that. I do however agree that many of us, when so engrossed within a particular subject, are more prone to view that subject from an "end all be all" perspective, when in fact there are potentially many more "big picture" type considerations that can fail to be made.

A simple example, perhaps, is people being so focused on "reducing their carbon footprint" and "saving the planet" or what have you going out and buying hybrids - without considering all of the pollution created in the manufacturing process of their hybrid, and the "demand" signal they are sending to the manufacturer to continue this pollution creating process by showing that they will buy these types of products. The small focus is "achieved" in the eye of the hybrid driver, but the bigger picture is that the world would have been impacted less from a pollution standpoint had they just kept driving whatever it was they already had - a " sunk cost" if you will

[MCMLXXXIX]

I found that a bit inspiring...

[just4kickz]

Originally Posted by BTM

I don't think anyone is arguing that PhDs are without merit and not worth pursuing, they definitely exist for a reason, a very good one at that. I do however agree that many of us, when so engrossed within a particular subject, are more prone to view that subject from an "end all be all" perspective, when in fact there are potentially many more "big picture" type considerations that can fail to be made.

A simple example, perhaps, is people being so focused on "reducing their carbon footprint" and "saving the planet" or what have you going out and buying hybrids - without considering all of the pollution created in the manufacturing process of their hybrid, and the "demand" signal they are sending to the manufacturer to continue this pollution creating process by showing that they will buy these types of products. The small focus is "achieved" in the eye of the hybrid driver, but the bigger picture is that the world would have been impacted less from a pollution standpoint had they just kept driving whatever it was they already had - a " sunk cost" if you will

lol im just adding to the conversation. & did you read that yahoo article about treehuggers who aren't really tree huggers? ie. the people who drive priuses and preach about saving the planet, but they're using plastic bags at supermarkets instead of those reusable bags.

[BTM]

Originally Posted by just4kickz

lol im just adding to the conversation. & did you read that yahoo article about treehuggers who aren't really tree huggers? ie. the people who drive priuses and preach about saving the planet, but they're using plastic bags at supermarkets instead of those reusable bags.

Haha yea - I'd say the majority of these Jeremy Clarkson dubbed "Ecomentalists" fall into this "when it's convenient" camp

Now my mom on the other hand is more hardcore than most - she had our property certified as a natural wildlife habitat, grows an organic garden and greenhouse, has a 30 or so gallon composting thing, has been using reusable shopping bags for since the 90s, runs the "environmental club" at her high school where she teaches at end even introduced "environmental science" class into the curriculum and not even she drives a hybrid because she's on top of things enough (thanks to me in this case) to know that in Germany the Mercedes S550 was certified a low emissions vehicle based upon use of recycled materials and clean manufacturing processes while the Prius was denied for a lack thereof.

[gary88]

So PhD = red rocket?