A Happy Illustrated Guide to a PhD

Diego posted a link to Matt Might’s article “The Illustrated Guide to a PhD“, which was funny, sad, and many would think is accurate.  Since I feel optimistic today, I would like to extend on that with an encouraging note.

While we’re all familiar with “perfect” objects, like a circle, triangle, or square:

…they’re not the only class of object that can exist.  “Ah!  I know what you mean”, Kate would say, “but when you look close enough, everything else can be described as a combination of these elements!”  And she’d point to this picture of a house.

And if this is true and all that there is, pushing the boundary of any shape will give us the same inconsequential bulge:

Viewed in this light, the years of anxiety while doing a PhD suddenly become even more of a

than it already is. :sadface:

—

But there