Seen in the wild: "All a #PhD tells me is you were at least able to cram study and pass tests."
I can't even.
Do people really think this? Obviously this guy does, but in general? An honest question, not a rhetorical one.
I've spent a significant chunk of my life in the company of people with #doctorates—including two grandparents, so I understood from childhood that getting a PhD was quite different from any other kind of degree. Most people I know haven't, but everyone who was part of my life through my long and winding #academic career has a pretty good idea what I did to become #Doctor Dvorkin. For anyone who doesn't know, I'm always happy to give a quick sketch.
Among people who don't have family or friends who have done it, and have never thought seriously about doing it themselves ... is that the perception, that grad school is just a more intense version of elementary school through college? More tests, more cramming, more regurgitation, and then you get some shiny new letters after your name?
If that's the case, I guess I can't blame them, exactly. Like I've said before, most people have no idea how most of the things I've done for a living in my life actually work. The #military, #medicine, #science: all quite mysterious except for what people *think* they know from movies and TV, which is often worse than complete ignorance. So I guess it's shouldn't be a surprise if #academia is on that list.
But I would really like to know how widespread this view is. Maybe I can do something with that.
@DavidDvorkin Well, yeah. But I'm wondering about the precise nature of the ignorance and if there's anything I can do about it. Or maybe I'm just over-analyzing it as we ivory tower types are wont to do, when all I really need is some good old-fashioned common sense!
@medigoth Too much book larnin'!
@medigoth I've known a lot of people who seem to think that a doctorate is basically to a master's what a master's is to a bachelor's: just the next rung up. It seems to be the default position even for professionals who haven't had a lot of exposure to doctoral programs or anyone in one. It's really hard to explain to them the extent to which the difference is qualitative.
@pieist I just wonder if there's any way to fight this. Maybe not, but I'm not quite ready to give up.
@medigoth No one in my family is a Phd, but I am aware that you have to do a lot of research, write a thesis, and have it accepted by a small group of people.
@ahi Thank you!
@medigoth Anyone who thinks that is an idiot, or at least profoundly ignorant.