On Cynicism

A certain article called The illustrated guide to a Ph.D. came on my radar today. It wasn't the first time I'd encountered it, and I remembered it from ~8 years ago when I first saw it. The article is by a professor, and it explains a model that he shares with his students about what a PhD is.

This article stirred something in me, and I can't just leave it because I think the message is capable of inflicting a great deal of mediocrity on anyone who reads it, especially the students that it's intended for.

The gist of the article is to say that you, the lowly prospective PhD student, are not going to accomplish much. There's a vast circle of existing knowledge in the world, and your contribution will be a little pinprick of expansion at the edge. So set your aim and your expectations low so you won't be disappointed.

What a horrible message to give to anyone embarking on a life journey of discovery. What a horrible message especially for idealistic people. You have to be idealistic to do a PhD. There are so many incentives to not pursue a PhD - industry pays more, having a PhDs might not help your job prospects commensurate with effort it took to get the PhD, complexity is scary, pushing the boundaries of knowledge is scary, not many will understand your work, and the list goes on. The people who choose to pursue a PhD must be idealistic.

Idealism and optimism and ambition are the most valuable resource we have for the future. They are the difference between the Elon Musk we know and a hypothetical Elon Musk who took an invisible job at Netscape. So we must stoke their embers with the utmost care. If Einstein, Claude Shannon, Alan Turing, and Rosalind Franklin had listened to this professor's message, we'd be that much less likely to have relativity, information theory, computer science, and synthetic biology now.

At the same time, we have to be realistic. Many research paths will not bear powerful or immediate fruit. Many will prove to be false findings (the hypothesis was wrong), or may end up with less-than-earth-shattering findings. Maybe the author's intent was to say this - don't be disappointed if your work isn't earth-shattering. You're a tiny part of a giant system and I'll spare you the disappointment and self-blame because your work won't be revolutionary or have a wide impact.

Here's how I'd say this instead: Variance in outcomes is high. The same talent and effort under different schools, countries, teams, and time periods can yield vastly different results. Sometimes the results are enormous, but just not during your lifetime. Sometimes there's a quick breakthrough that just expands and expands into something world-changing. Sometimes you lay the groundwork for the next breakthrough. Who knows? It would be irrational to get attached to something you can't control. So don't.

Instead, attach yourself to the certainty that you have chosen to be part of the most exciting mission ever at the most exciting time in history. Welcome to a globe-spanning network of idealists who have chosen to dedicate their lives to expanding the human project. We are why every piece of technology around you exists, from your computers to your cell phones to your windows to your heating systems to your car to your food production. We don't know what breakthroughs are coming, but we know they're there, we know how little we currently know, and we need idealists and optimists to keep pushing forward.

Instead of this:

It's this:

You're not fizzling your life out to make a measly pin-sized bump. You're working to unlock entirely new worlds of knowledge and magic and power and longevity for the human race. You can't control whether it'll be your name attached to the next newly-unlocked territory, but you can guarantee that you'll be a part of that worthy effort, and that's a life worth living.

If your professor, mentor, advisor, or anyone tries to extinguish your soul with a message like that article, or make you think there's anything but vast variance out there, slap him or her right in the monocle and find a new advisor.