Why you shouldn't get a PhD
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Originally posted by PhdGuy:
Before commenting, I'd like to ask an interesting question:
Since 1990, Asians have won the International Physics Olympiad for over 2/3 of the time (China takes 1/2).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Physics_Olympiad
Why is it then that the West still produces many more Nobel laureates than Asia?
coz asian phDs dun stake their balls in their works -
that's because foreign phds have both creativity and textual intelligence. whereas most of the asian phds only know how to swallow textbooks and notes, go for exams and physics olympiad, when the westerners are using the time to invent and discover new things.
i wonder if u have wasted your time abroad. attending classes taught by westerners, but never learn to understand their mentality and working values.
perhaps u should spend your time inventing something and help singapore get our first nobel prize. we are still one of the few developed countries that have not gotten a single medal yet.
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It's always easier to spend time to complain, criticize, give unsolicited and unprofessional advice than to actually spend time to do the job.
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Originally posted by eagle:
It's always easier to spend time to complain, criticize, give unsolicited and unprofessional advice than to actually spend time to do the job.
Textbook says so, so it must be true.
If you can't trust textbook examples, what else can you trust?
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Originally posted by PhdGuy:
I chose to do PhD because I thought all people who are passionate about science should naturally pursue academic work further.
In fact, I become less sharp after completing my PhD. Imagine repeated computations and experimentations just to get the 'correct' results. One can still understand books in a 'deeper fashion' without a PhD through disciplined self-study.
to your first sentence, that's what alot of people thought after completing their masters. they haven't yet entered the real academic world. amateurs only talk about passion. most people who continued with phd wish to end up teaching in the universities or be researchers. they dont know what its like and how it works there.
when u get your phd cert, u are just a Dr. u are not a prof and cant hold a teaching position in the uni. so most ppl went to do further research with the science agency. the seniors and old birds there will direct your research, so most of the time u end up doing what they want u to do, right?
this is why most newbies start feeling the lost of their passion as they could not do what they wanted, but end up doing what people want them to do. on top of that, i understand that there is a certain force that pushes u to churn out research papers like a printing machine, right? and the results of these research papers must be 'correct' and desired by your mentors, right?
i have a relative, after completing his science phd, worked and toiled like cow for 5 years. his salary is only $3k per month. can u imagine a guy in his mid 30s earning that and cant afford to have car and children? i think even a normal degree graduate earn more than him at the same age.
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Originally posted by charlize:
Textbook says so, so it must be true.
If you can't trust textbook examples, what else can you trust?
Isolated examples are sometimes trusted too, and used as supporting evidences
Example: a personal encounter or a relative's encounter -
Originally posted by PhdGuy:
Thanks. But having a PhD doesn't mean I am 'smart'. In fact I am just an ordinary mortal like most people. Three years of number-crunching could have been put to better use. After all these years, nothing beats the feeling of sitting down with a good Physics book and reading it. And do I need a PhD to do so? No.
reading book? actually that's what i am doing now. the sg degree doesnt give me what i want and at the rate they are going, my passion is dying at double speed. i quit it and spend my time teaching myself by reading books until i go abroad.
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Originally posted by Gerberad:
to your first sentence, that's what alot of people thought after completing their masters. they haven't yet entered the real academic world. amateurs only talk about passion. most people who continued with phd wish to end up teaching in the universities or be researchers. they dont know what its like and how it works there.
when u get your phd cert, u are just a Dr. u are not a prof and cant hold a teaching position in the uni. so most ppl went to do further research with the science agency. the seniors and old birds there will direct your research, so most of the time u end up doing what they want u to do, right?
this is why most newbies start feeling the lost of their passion as they could not do what they wanted, but end up doing what people want them to do. on top of that, i understand that there is a certain force that pushes u to churn out research papers like a printing machine, right? and the results of these research papers must be 'correct' and desired by your mentors, right?
i have a relative, after completing his science phd, worked and toiled like cow for 5 years. his salary is only $3k per month. can u imagine a guy in his mid 30s earning that and cant afford to have car and children? i think even a normal degree graduate earn more than him at the same age.
isolated examples can't always be generalized. The '3K' you mention is too much of an exaggeration. Sometimes, it depends on the discipline. I heard stories on how researchers in the life & biological sciences earn very little here in USA. Maybe your relative belongs to this discipline?
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Originally posted by Gerberad:
that's because foreign phds have both creativity and textual intelligence. whereas most of the asian phds only know how to swallow textbooks and notes, go for exams and physics olympiad, when the westerners are using the time to invent and discover new things.
I talked about this issue with a PRC colleague of mine here in US. His country bagged the most medals and has the largest population. Yet, the number of world-famous scientists does not commensurate with their performance in the Olympiads. This has been and is still a hot topic of discussion among the scientists and educators in his country.
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PhD is another ball game....it only means u r a keen and lifelong researcher over something u r to think sleep eat with it for a lifetime....it also means queueing honestly for your whole life to attain a tenure position of professorship...and hopefully would see increasing citations of your work in the quantity of prestigious journals and a "Nobel" hopeful....in the remaining vanishing last years....
life is so happy without it....
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Isolated examples are cool :)
A certain PhD holder realised he had no future in an engineering company, came out to teach tuition and earned $500k in 2010.
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Originally posted by eagle:
Isolated examples are cool :)
A certain PhD holder realised he had no future in an engineering company, came out to teach tuition and earned $500k in 2010.
really? was it in the news? What subjects was he teaching?
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Originally posted by PhdGuy:
really? was it in the news? What subjects was he teaching?
An astute reader would immediately zero in on the high probability that he's describing himself la....
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Originally posted by Gerberad:
reading book? actually that's what i am doing now. the sg degree doesnt give me what i want and at the rate they are going, my passion is dying at double speed. i quit it and spend my time teaching myself by reading books until i go abroad.
So which school did u drop out from? What is your major?
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Originally posted by PhdGuy:
really? was it in the news? What subjects was he teaching?
yes in the news.
That guy was teaching physics.
And SBS2601D, no, it isn't me, although I do hope so because my background is a little similar to that guy
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One of my NS reservist friend who is an engineer told me most Singapore engineers don't have ambition to go into research.
They are mostly in managerial post or go into teaching. The interesting thing he told me was that in his opinion the most skilled Singapore engineers were those trained in Nan Tah.
That was the most shocking thing I heard coming from engineering industry.
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ahhh.. i have said it many times to people who refuse to understand this:
never mistake education for intelligence
and the next line too:
never mistake intelligence for wisdom
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in reply to PhdGuy,
my relative went to USA to do his studies and after graduation immediately came back to sg to work. so the 3k is measured in sgd, not usd. he is purely being underpaid. i believe his discipline belongs to one of the lower earning group, because if not he might consider staying on in the states like u...
however i am not very sure of the research field in usa, heard that the gov grants quite a good amount of money to supply research? my other relative has been doing research in one of the european countries for quite a long time. in his country the gov supports them quite alot and they are allow to team up with other researchers freely. however, the similarity with both of them is that their pay is damn low.
tell your prc colleague that he should be glad his country is producing nobel laureates, especially those still holding to the prc citizenship. i dont understand why u guys like to compare physics olympiad with nobel prize. in my opinion it is as if u are comparing caviar with salmon sushi.
i am not going to say the school's name, as i am now in a tussle with them. they refuse to let me go and dont want to publish my transcript. however i discontinued paying fees and attending lessons, because i am offered by a much better university abroad which gave me better conditions.
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hey phdguy
if you fare badly in math, what does it mean? meaning you are lousy in something in real life?
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phdguy do we have a physics scientist in singapore capable of winning the Nobel Laureate? are they at NUS ?
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Originally posted by Jacky Woo:
phdguy do we have a physics scientist in singapore capable of winning the Nobel Laureate? are they at NUS ?
Can you predict when you will kick the bucket?
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Originally posted by Jacky Woo:
hey phdguy
if you fare badly in math, what does it mean? meaning you are lousy in something in real life?
if u fare badly in math, just don't do Physics.
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Originally posted by PhdGuy:
Can you predict when you will kick the bucket?
wonder this is all you can come up with your PHD studies
I see.
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Originally posted by the Bear:
ahhh.. i have said it many times to people who refuse to understand this:
never mistake education for intelligence
and the next line too:
never mistake intelligence for wisdom
peals of wisdom
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Originally posted by Jacky Woo:
wonder this is all you can come up with your PHD studies
I see.
No wonder u are called Jacky Woo. Keep entertaining us.