A simplified pictorial explanation of how intellectual a Ph.D. makes you.

Well having a doctoral degree in one’s illustrious resume is definitely one of the most reputable and gratifying thing a person can achieve in his/her life. After years of hard work research, a ‘doctor’ in front of your name is undeniably justifiable. In any culture doctorates are regarded as conversant individuals. With candid curiosity and a constant driving dynamism, a doctorate person throughout his life strives to learn novel concepts, understand complex problems relevant to his field and most significantly loves to solve them. But does it mean that he/sshe know it all? Apparently the answer to that question depends on the perception of how you see the whole notion of having a PhD.

When an abstract thought of pursuing a doctoral degree hits a person’s conscience, it might make him a little bit anxious. To lighten this perception of newbies towards PhD., Matthew Might, a computer science professor at the University of Utah found a vivid explanation. He writes, ‘Every fall, I explain to a fresh batch of PhD. students what a PhD. is. It’s hard to describe it in words. So, I use pictures.’ In his Illustrated Guide to the PhD, Professor Might crafted a pictorial description that puts the intimidating degree into a viewpoint. Anyone who has already pursued a PhD will see the astuteness in it. And young, ambitious researchers would be intelligent to pay it some heed.

Well, have a look at the pictorial representation given below:-

Imagine a circle that contains all of human knowledge:






With a bachelor’s degree, you gain a specialty:


A master’s degree deepens that specialty:


Reading research papers takes you to the edge of human knowledge:


Once you’re at the boundary, you focus:


You push at the boundary for a few years:


Until one day, the boundary gives way:


And, that dent you’ve made is called a Ph.D.


Of course, the world looks different to you now:


So, don’t forget the bigger picture:


So looking at the bigger picture we should always keep pushing and be humble while doing it.

Below given is a summarized version.






3 thoughts on “A simplified pictorial explanation of how intellectual a Ph.D. makes you.

  1. Subham Ghosh July 19, 2017 / 5:16 pm

    Great man! Keep Posting stuffs like this! Like the inquisitiveness that goes behind such articles! Keep going!

    Liked by 1 person

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