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I'm quitting my PhD
121–130 of 382 posts
Re: I'm quitting my PhD
#122Earlier quoted context omitted.
Spent a lot of time in academia, and I quite disagree. He's pointing out something that is very common in academia - common enough to be widely accepted . Saying he is unprofessional in criticizing his supervisors is like saying someone is unprofessional in criticizing his boss for demanding Leetcode style interviews. If his supervisor were an outlier, I could see your point. But a big purpose behind his blog post is…
> Spent a lot of time in academia, and I quite disagree. He's pointing out something that is very common in academia - common enough to be widely accepted. Saying he is unprofessional in criticizing his supervisors is like saying someone is unprofessional in criticizing his boss for demanding Leetcode style interviews. I specifically said the issue isn't criticizing. The issue is criticizing in a way which is so vagu…
>It's exhausting commenting on HN. You have to append every minor observation of a laundry list of responses to likely misinterpretations.
Interesting seeing this response after you just posted:
>If you can't be specific enough to be scientific about it, just keep it to yourself
Was this a tongue-in-cheek demonstration of your point? Or is vague criticism only unacceptable in academia?
Re: I'm quitting my PhD
#123[deleted]
Re: I'm quitting my PhD
#124Earlier quoted context omitted.
Having a supervisor roughly in the field seems like a reasonable expectation though? The complaint is not having anyone to discuss the topic with...
They chose their supervisior.
Sure, but I seems like there was some miscommunication about the current research; what's active and what's a mere 'interest' in the department etc.
Anyway I've no horse in this race!
Re: I'm quitting my PhD
#125Earlier quoted context omitted.
> There are way more PhD's then there are research positions Nonsense. Look at how many job openings there are for PhDs - people can't hire them fast enough. I was in a call the other day saying how hard it is to even find PhDs to interview, let alone get them to accept your offer.
Link to a graph of open tenure-track phd positions over time? I can't find one but from what I've been reading it would indicate there are not enough positions open to fill demand.
Why is tenure the be-all in your mind? I never wanted tenure after my PhD - I think that’s pretty typical.
Re: I'm quitting my PhD
#126Earlier quoted context omitted.
Spent a lot of time in academia, and I quite disagree. He's pointing out something that is very common in academia - common enough to be widely accepted . Saying he is unprofessional in criticizing his supervisors is like saying someone is unprofessional in criticizing his boss for demanding Leetcode style interviews. If his supervisor were an outlier, I could see your point. But a big purpose behind his blog post is…
> Spent a lot of time in academia, and I quite disagree. He's pointing out something that is very common in academia - common enough to be widely accepted. Saying he is unprofessional in criticizing his supervisors is like saying someone is unprofessional in criticizing his boss for demanding Leetcode style interviews. I specifically said the issue isn't criticizing. The issue is criticizing in a way which is so vagu…
It's not exhausting, you're just refusing to understand the other side of the argument.
Criticizing in a vague way is precisely appropriate in a situation where you don't want to make the criticism specific to a single circumstance but are instead trying to make a broader point about a systemic issue.
Re: I'm quitting my PhD
#127You know, when I'm feeling down, or bad, or am just generally in a terrible mood, I write. I get it all out.
And then I delete it without saving it. Not only does it never see the internet, but it never even leaves notepad. Because the purpose of my writing is to sort out my own feelings and make myself feel better. Putting it all out there for everyone to see when there's no crime being committed is just personal indulgence without any perspective.
I wouldn't want to work with someone who would put me on blast like that, and I don't know anyone else who would either. This isn't even an event where someone else did anything wrong. It's just the writer misunderstanding what being a PhD candidate is about.
Re: I'm quitting my PhD
#128I'm someone who finished a PhD, here's my perspective. You don't believe your supervisor or your research group and so you quit, great. It's great that you have the critical thinking abilities and confidence in yourself to make such a decision. However, I think it's extremely unprofessional to write a blog post saying that your supervisor is superficial or your research group is performative art. I don't say this bec…
Exactly. Giving the OP the benefit of the doubt -- that he is completely correct in his assessment of the group -- he is certainly doing himself no favors publicly throwing them under the bus. I imagine other prospective advisors, in any field, might be reluctant to take him on if this is a pontential outcome.
I don't think he's trying to do himself any favors. If anything he's trying to do others a favor by expressing a very common problem within academia.
Re: I'm quitting my PhD
#129I'm someone who finished a PhD, here's my perspective. You don't believe your supervisor or your research group and so you quit, great. It's great that you have the critical thinking abilities and confidence in yourself to make such a decision. However, I think it's extremely unprofessional to write a blog post saying that your supervisor is superficial or your research group is performative art. I don't say this bec…
Spent a lot of time in academia, and I quite disagree. He's pointing out something that is very common in academia - common enough to be widely accepted . Saying he is unprofessional in criticizing his supervisors is like saying someone is unprofessional in criticizing his boss for demanding Leetcode style interviews. If his supervisor were an outlier, I could see your point. But a big purpose behind his blog post is…
[deleted]
Re: I'm quitting my PhD
#130I'm someone who finished a PhD, here's my perspective. You don't believe your supervisor or your research group and so you quit, great. It's great that you have the critical thinking abilities and confidence in yourself to make such a decision. However, I think it's extremely unprofessional to write a blog post saying that your supervisor is superficial or your research group is performative art. I don't say this bec…
I interact very heavily with academics (though am thankfully no longer one myself) and one thing I can't stand is that all of them will complain endlessly about the horribly abusive and broken system that academia has become, then without hesitation turn around and flog the next person in line when it's their turn to continue the process from the abusing side. As someone who once held the title of assistant professor…
> The amount of bullshit being produced and regurgitated in academia needs to be called out. Your definition of "unprofessional" is just "this makes us look bad"
This can be generalized, I think. Professional social standards, specifically, do seem to primarily be about protecting and saving face.