Re:I no longer understand my PhD dissertation
by skywhopper on Monday February 15, 2016 @07:08AM
(#11102881)
I think you missed the point of the article, which was that students, parents, standards-setters, educational theorists, and legislators have a distorted idea about what education is for and why certain subjects are taught. We don't teach history so that children can recite the years in which various battles happened. We don't teach algebra in order that everyone in society knows how to factor a simple polynomial.
The author can no longer understand his dissertation, but that doesn't mean he failed, or that the educational system failed by granting him a PhD for the work. Rather, the dissertation was about proving to the system and himself that he had learned how to tackle a complex problem and generate a solution that would pass muster with his academic mentors. In the process he learned many skills indirectly, became a more effective problem-solver in general, and had fun, all of which are far more valuable and far more important than the topic of his dissertation and whether or not he still understands it.
The author can no longer understand his dissertation, but that doesn't mean he failed, or that the educational system failed by granting him a PhD for the work. Rather, the dissertation was about proving to the system and himself that he had learned how to tackle a complex problem and generate a solution that would pass muster with his academic mentors. In the process he learned many skills indirectly, became a more effective problem-solver in general, and had fun, all of which are far more valuable and far more important than the topic of his dissertation and whether or not he still understands it.