Ya, the nightmares towards the end when you are finally writing your thesis are the worst, but it was mentally fulfilling and I guess I don’t regret it, even though my thesis will never be read by anyone else. The things you actually learn and the thing you study can be really different.
I actually still have nightmares about not finishing my thesis for some reason, or having my topics rejected (although for some reason, the mental stress didn’t start until I got past that point).
Design topics are the worst: you can’t measure how fast they are or how effective they are. My advice to anyone who wants to do a PhD is to get into a field where the metrics are obvious, and then lean into Goodhart’s law for all its worth (but be super honest with numbers and careful with your methodology).
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Ya, the nightmares towards the end when you are finally writing your thesis are the worst, but it was mentally fulfilling and I guess I don’t regret it, even though my thesis will never be read by anyone else. The things you actually learn and the thing you study can be really different.
I actually still have nightmares about not finishing my thesis for some reason, or having my topics rejected (although for some reason, the mental stress didn’t start until I got past that point).
Design topics are the worst: you can’t measure how fast they are or how effective they are. My advice to anyone who wants to do a PhD is to get into a field where the metrics are obvious, and then lean into Goodhart’s law for all its worth (but be super honest with numbers and careful with your methodology).