> 1. I am insufficiently intelligent to actually acheive a PhD. (I nearly 
> failed my BSc as it is!)

Rubbish!  You've demonstrated several times how quickly you can pick up new, 
often quite challenging, concepts.  You probably almost failed your BSc 
because there were subjects you just weren't interested in that much to put 
in the work.

> 2. I have insufficient money. (I'm still paying for my BSc. Very slowly.)

Aren't there lots of options for getting funding?

> 4. It is *highly* unlikely that having a PhD will make any kind of 
> positive change to my employment situation.

Completely incorrect, I don't even understand why you might think like that.

> 5. Presumably a PhD is a serious amount of hard work. It's not exactly a 
> pleasure cruise. So I'd need a good reason to do one.

Because you will enjoy doing it, and will have many more employment options 
once you are done.

> 6. I rather doubt that you can get a PhD in "doing cool stuff". Presumably 
> it must be something rather more specific than that.

No s**t!  List out all the "cool stuff" you enjoy, then start searching...

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Stephen wrote:

> You can get a loan <gulp> from the OU.

Yay! More loans... :-}

> You might be more suited to academia than the workplace.

LOL. The last [and, incidentally first] guy who interviewed me said the 
same thing. Possibly because I informed him that a relation is merely 
some subset of the extended Cartesian product of the respective domains 
of its attributes - a fact which, surely, any database expert will agree 
with.

Then again, given the level of the "SQL test" I had to complete, maybe I 
knew more than him?

("List all customers who have placed an order this year, sorted by 
customer ID". I mean, seriously, are you KIDDING me??)

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>> 1. I am insufficiently intelligent to actually acheive a PhD. (I 
>> nearly failed my BSc as it is!)
> 
> Rubbish!  You've demonstrated several times how quickly you can pick up 
> new, often quite challenging, concepts.

I guess I'm still smarting from that guy yelling at me because I keep 
asking how rank-2 types work and I still can't get my head around it.

> You probably almost failed your 
> BSc because there were subjects you just weren't interested in that much 
> to put in the work.

Actually, I'm still not really comprehending why double-entry book 
keeping is really relevant to a computer science degree, but still...

>> 2. I have insufficient money. (I'm still paying for my BSc. Very slowly.)
> 
> Aren't there lots of options for getting funding?

*shrugs*

>> 4. It is *highly* unlikely that having a PhD will make any kind of 
>> positive change to my employment situation.
> 
> Completely incorrect, I don't even understand why you might think like 
> that.

Well, everybody seemed to think that once I had a degree, people would 
be falling over themselves to be the first to employ me. This is 
manifestly not the case. Nobody gives a **** that I have a degree. Why 
is another qualification going to be different?

>> 5. Presumably a PhD is a serious amount of hard work. It's not exactly 
>> a pleasure cruise. So I'd need a good reason to do one.
> 
> Because you will enjoy doing it

If it's true, that would be a valid reason.

> and will have many more employment options once you are done.

I currently doubt this one.

>> 6. I rather doubt that you can get a PhD in "doing cool stuff". 
>> Presumably it must be something rather more specific than that.
> 
> No s**t!  List out all the "cool stuff" you enjoy, then start searching...

I'm thinking I might make a list of cool stuff just for the hell of it, 
actually. :-D

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On 20-2-2009 13:05, Invisible wrote:
> OK, so this has been discussed a few times now, so I thought I'd make a 
> thread specifically about it.
> 
> The question is: Do you think I should do a PhD?
> 

Yes, but not in computer science. I suggest something applied. Not 
because you like it, but because you could be good at it and it would 
force you to meet other people.

> Why?

Because

[snipped some rubbish]

> I seem to vaguely recall somebody (I forget who) claiming to know who to 
> go to for this kind of thing, and offering to help me arrange it. 
> Perhaps I'm just delusional...

If you had an MSc I am pretty sure I could have arranged it. With a BSc 
it may require a bit more work. And it is not going to be 4 years. 
Though the working conditions will be much better than where you are now 
(except for the final year of course), with an option of dropping out 
anytime you like. Oh, and it would require you to not live with your 
mother anymore.

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On 20-2-2009 13:38, Invisible wrote:
> John VanSickle wrote:
>> On the other hand, if you get a doctorate in education, you can 
>> actually be as dumb as a half-moldy cup of yogurt, and you still won't 
>> get fired for anything short of a felony.
>>
>> As proof I offer the U.S. public school system.
> 
> I actually have no idea what you're talking about - although spending 3 
> years evaluating the intelligence of a half-mouldy cup of yogurt does 
> seem like an amusing prospect. ;-)

John had some problems with below average IQ and EQ people when he was 
teaching, that is why he isn't anymore.

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>> The question is: Do you think I should do a PhD?
> 
> Yes, but not in computer science. I suggest something applied. Not 
> because you like it, but because you could be good at it and it would 
> force you to meet other people.

So, what you're saying is, I'd be doing something I don't want to do, 
and being forced to get yelled at by a bunch of people? And yet you 
expect me to be "good" at this? Hmm...

>> I seem to vaguely recall somebody (I forget who) claiming to know who 
>> to go to for this kind of thing, and offering to help me arrange it. 
> 
> If you had an MSc I am pretty sure I could have arranged it. With a BSc 
> it may require a bit more work.

Heh, oh well.

> Oh, and it would require you to not live with your mother anymore.

Not living with the She Devil sounds dreamy. Having to copy with a whole 
bunch of other stuff sounds less inviting.

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> ("List all customers who have placed an order this year, sorted by 
> customer ID". I mean, seriously, are you KIDDING me??)

Hehe, I've typed about 10 lines of SQL in my whole life (and 8 of those in 
the last week) and even I know how to do that now :-)

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>> ("List all customers who have placed an order this year, sorted by 
>> customer ID". I mean, seriously, are you KIDDING me??)
> 
> Hehe, I've typed about 10 lines of SQL in my whole life (and 8 of those 
> in the last week) and even I know how to do that now :-)

EXACTLY!!

It is scaresly possible to make this any *more* simple. (I guess you'd 
have to have something with no PK/FK relationships at all - e.g., "list 
all customers born after 1980" or something.)

Seriously, this is probably the most *basic* thing you can ask SQL to 
do. Jesus... AND you've allowed to use the SQL Server CHM files.

Apparently "I've had people come in here claiming to have 20 years' 
experience with SQL who were unable to do that test as well as you just 
did". WTF?? O_O

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> Actually, I'm still not really comprehending why double-entry book keeping 
> is really relevant to a computer science degree, but still...

Exactly.

> Well, everybody seemed to think that once I had a degree, people would be 
> falling over themselves to be the first to employ me.

Maybe a few decades ago, but not anymore.

> Why is another qualification going to be different?

Becuase unlike degrees, hardly anyone has a PhD, it makes you stand out from 
the crowd (which a degree *used* to do).

>> Because you will enjoy doing it
>
> If it's true, that would be a valid reason.

Well presumably you would choose to do study a subject you enjoyed...

> I'm thinking I might make a list of cool stuff just for the hell of it, 
> actually. :-D

Yes, I want to see another thread with "List of things I enjoy" :-)

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>> Well, everybody seemed to think that once I had a degree, people would 
>> be falling over themselves to be the first to employ me.
> 
> Maybe a few decades ago, but not anymore.

I thought it was more like a few centuries?

>> Why is another qualification going to be different?
> 
> Becuase unlike degrees, hardly anyone has a PhD, it makes you stand out 
> from the crowd (which a degree *used* to do).

Hey, if *I* can actually get one, it can't be that rare.

>>> Because you will enjoy doing it
>>
>> If it's true, that would be a valid reason.
> 
> Well presumably you would choose to do study a subject you enjoyed...

Uh, well yeah, but you generally don't find out whether you enjoy 
something until after you've started doing it?

>> I'm thinking I might make a list of cool stuff just for the hell of 
>> it, actually. :-D
> 
> Yes, I want to see another thread with "List of things I enjoy" :-)

Your wish is my comonad!

Er, wait...




C... co... comonoid... coroutine... covarience...

...parley?

Ah, YES! Parley. Parley.

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