Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Why I'm Getting a PhD

johnbender.us

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 125 posts

Re: Why I'm Getting a PhD

#21

Post by iskander »

burntsushi wrote: post #18

Is anyone else doing their PhD (or did their PhD) just because they thought it was a lot of fun and a great way to learn a lot in a short time period? Not that it's the only way to do any of those things, but I've found the lifestyle of a graduate student in CS to be extremely appealing. My mentor once suggested that a PhD is only worthwhile if you plan on doing research after you graduate. But as he got to know me b…

I've been enjoying it: work with smart folks, occasionally speak at conferences, learn whatever you're curious about.. However, the money situation can become tricky (especially in New York). I double my income from summer internships but have still managed to accumulate a lot of credit card debt. I would recommend the lifestyle only if, in addition to having a good advisor/lab and liking open-ended exploration, you (1) are habitually frugal (2) go to school somewhere cheap or (3) have a big pile of savings.

Re: Why I'm Getting a PhD

#22

Post by spartango »

priley wrote: post #4

It's totally not worth it unless you want to be a professor. Trust me.

It really depends on what you value to be "worth it".

If you value the end goal of becoming a professor, you'd agree the Phd is "worth it"; perhaps this provides a career-oriented perspective.

But consider the other values:

If you want to explore a novel, foundational (perhaps theoretical) area of the field, academia represents a good venue. The journey is what is "worth it" to the value of intellectual curiosity.

Similarly, if you value gaining extreme depth in a narrow topic area to the end of advancing that topic area, academia enables an appropriate level of focus for that.

Blanket statements of what academia is useful for are biased by individual values, and are thus generally unhelpful. Not everyone pursues a path for its ends or career utility.

Re: Why I'm Getting a PhD

#23

Post by javert »

I feel like he's leaving out something quite important, which is what he plans to do once he has his PhD. Professor (research or teaching?) or industry (big business or startups?)?

Re: Why I'm Getting a PhD

#24

Post by javert »

001sky wrote: post #19

Career Path ... Unfortunately, the problems I gravitate towards are not normally assigned to engineers and attempts to marry my interests with my domain of expertise [1,2] have met with understandably tepid responses. ,,, All of that makes perfect sense but it means I can't focus on the problems that I'm interested in. --- What Interests Me The things that keep me up past midnight working and learning are technical.…

People do get paid to do the kind of work he is talking about, you know.

As a sidenote, I found your sporadic quoting of his post to be annoying and completely worthless.

Re: Why I'm Getting a PhD

#25

Post by ColinWright »

themodelplumber wrote: post #17
ColinWright wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not for everyone, and maybe it's not for you, but my PhD was definitely worth it, and I was never going to be a professor. I'm sorry that it didn't work out for you, and that you feel you wasted your time, but don't presume to speak for everyone. You don't speak for me.

> and now I know not to trust you. Was that part really necessary?

As soon as I submitted it I went back to remove it. But thanks for calling me on it anyway.

But perhaps you can find a more diplomatic way to say the same thing. When someone says something that's clearly an opinion, and wrong in my experience, and follows it with "Trust me," it's a guarantee that I will regard everything they say with suspicion.

Should that not be the case? How else should I point out the consequences of their utterance? Or should I let it pass, and not try to help them see the consequences?

I'd be interested in your thoughts on that.

Re: Why I'm Getting a PhD

#27

Post by johnbender »

burntsushi wrote: post #18

Is anyone else doing their PhD (or did their PhD) just because they thought it was a lot of fun and a great way to learn a lot in a short time period? Not that it's the only way to do any of those things, but I've found the lifestyle of a graduate student in CS to be extremely appealing. My mentor once suggested that a PhD is only worthwhile if you plan on doing research after you graduate. But as he got to know me b…

I didn't cover this at all, but I am very excited about the education and the process.

For most people though some stronger reasoning is necessary and my understanding is that the research is really the point of PhD, the education is there to support that.

Re: Why I'm Getting a PhD

#28

Post by 011011100 »

"Because it's my life and I believe it's worthwhile to me." I don't understand why people bother to defend personal choices, like education, as if they're in some sort of formal argument. This says more about culture and your own insecurity.

Re: Why I'm Getting a PhD

#29

Post by mathattack »

001sky wrote: post #19

Career Path ... Unfortunately, the problems I gravitate towards are not normally assigned to engineers and attempts to marry my interests with my domain of expertise [1,2] have met with understandably tepid responses. ,,, All of that makes perfect sense but it means I can't focus on the problems that I'm interested in. --- What Interests Me The things that keep me up past midnight working and learning are technical.…

I agree with your thoughts on this being Naive. As an undergrad I wrote off the idea of pursuing a Phd (my initial intent) because I saw how the senior professor I assisted spent his time. A lot more mental energy went to grant writing than teaching or research.

The other thing is it will be very hard to do this at 30 with kids. Best of luck with this!

Re: Why I'm Getting a PhD

#30

Post by auctiontheory »

cli wrote: post #9
priley wrote: post #4

It's totally not worth it unless you want to be a professor. Trust me.

Suppose that I want to do basic research in, say, physics. How would I do so without a PhD?

You wouldn't be able to. But keep in mind ... (1) It's extremely difficult to get a job doing basic research in physics, even with a PhD. (2) The OP hasn't said he wants to do basic research.
Post reply on HN