The illustrated guide to a Ph.D.
2018-01-02
An illustration of what a PhD is. I saw a picture that expresses the claim that a PhD is to reach the edge of human knowledge by increasing expertise, and to expand it by pushing the edge for a few years. https://gyazo.com/67c777809c8989347734fbc30a05ed79
On the other hand, one of the blind spots of this picture is that by representing the boundaries of human knowledge as circles, it incorrectly states that "the distance to any boundary is constant.
In fact, while people gather and are strongly pushed in "well-known specialty areas," there is a large valley between these specialties, and there is a shortage of people to fill the valley with multiple specialties.
Valleys between specialties
https://gyazo.com/8fec718bace3b085b1735cc12864b060
Movement to further promote sharp "specialty areas
https://gyazo.com/d0444ea03a0d7bb39ab8c2a8e6defd31
Movement to fill the valley between specialties
After having a certain level of expertise, expand into adjacent areas rather than deepening that expertise.
https://gyazo.com/a58bcbe3fe4745e478d801cdf4b8489e
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