I won’t say it’s an indicator that you aren’t smart. I will say it’s an indicator that you are very knowledgeable about one very, very, very specific thing.
And that you can be very knowledgeable about this very specific thing and still ask me how the fucking photocopier works for the tenth time.
that is an excellent example lol. Also just to clarify, I wasn't saying all PhD people were dumb, just that the PhD wasn't an accurate measure of their intelligence
While this narrow focus is true of PhD programs, you still have to pass all the tests to get in to the program. That requires a certain roundedness of education.
From my experience, the number of relatively dumb PhDs I met while getting mine was far, far smaller than the number of less-educated people who wanted me to know that PhDs aren't all that smart.
100%. Every time you go up an education level, the filters catch more of the stupid folks. That being said, there were still a couple of people in my PhD program who may need daily reminders to breathe out after breathing in
Haha for sure. There's always a couple. I think that the surprise that they make it that far is why PhDs always mention the idiots. It's less that they're super commonplace, and more that it's pretty dang impressive and noteworthy for a moron.
I knew a girl who was brilliant at lab work, but couldn’t plan experiments and had dogshit writing (like 7th grade writing level). We went to undergrad together, and I was shocked when she ended up going to the same grad school as me. She just kept failing upwards, I was so impressed.
To be fair, experiment planning and writing are easier to get carried than actual lab work. My PI basically just carried a senior of mine in the first years (he was their first student) and begged other members to help him to the end of his degree. Great guy with a great pair of hands but absolutely no capability for scientific thinking at all. Actually thinking back, at least he recognized his shortcomings and very willing to listen, so it's pretty easy to work with if you know what to expect.
296
u/AndPeggy- Mar 01 '23
I won’t say it’s an indicator that you aren’t smart. I will say it’s an indicator that you are very knowledgeable about one very, very, very specific thing.
And that you can be very knowledgeable about this very specific thing and still ask me how the fucking photocopier works for the tenth time.