By now this thread may be getting a little old and I hope I'm not beating a dead horse. But I just would like to point out that a piece of paper does not equal intelligence. I do agree with earlier folks that pointed out that drive and determination are 90% of a PhD with 10% being intelligence. There are plenty of geniuses out there driving cabs and flipping burgers. Have you ever been to a mensa meeting?
I think a degree these days means a much different thing than it did 50 years ago. It used to be a big accomplishment to obtain a bachelors degree much less a PhD (so my father tells me). My father worked for the USGS as a hydrologist for over thirty years and started entry level with a bachelors in civil engineering. He worked through the years and moved up in position until he ceased doing field work and was only running analyses and writing reports. To achieve his grade at the time he retired one would need a PhD to qualify. We're in an age where motivation and a yearning to learn aren't enough. It seems now we need to be qualified by institutions and recieve a piece of paper to prove to the world we are intelligent or perhaps just competent enough to to contribute to a field of science. The funny thing nowadays is when a person follows their personal passion for a subject they haven't been trained in or recieved a degree in and they're called an amateur scientist. By these standards so would've Gregor Mendel. We must be careful to hold on to titles so dearly and remember to check our arrogance at the door. Mark Winterstein > Date: Fri, 13 Mar 2009 18:54:52 -0500 > From: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] EdD vs PhD > To: [email protected] > > that is completely a false assumption. I did a MS prior to my PHD, > but when students go directly into the PHD, they still have to go > through all the MS requirements prior to going through the PHD > requirements. It is the same thing. > > On Fri, Mar 13, 2009 at 12:45 PM, Pete Rissler > <[email protected]> wrote: > > What concerns me more then EdD vs PhD is getting a PhD without fist getting > > a Master's degree. Whenever I see an applicant with a PhD and no Master's, > > I view their PhD as either a glorified Master's or a watered down PhD. I > > know there are advantages for doing this for both the school and students > > but call me old school I think a PhD should be earned without any short > > cuts. > > > > Pete > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news > > [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Mitch Cruzan > > Sent: Friday, March 13, 2009 8:58 AM > > To: [email protected] > > Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] EdD vs PhD > > > > Whether it sits right with you or not, it is true. Not everybody has > > the same intellectual ability, the same as we are not all able to be > > Olympic athletes no matter how hard we work. Otherwise, universities > > would not require high scores on entrance exams for undergraduate study, > > and we would not require our applicants to our PhD programs to perform > > well on GREs. This is not elitism, it is just a consequence of genetic > > variation in human populations. > > > > > > -- > Malcolm L. McCallum > Associate Professor of Biology > Texas A&M University-Texarkana > Editor, Herpetological Conservation and Biology > http://www.herpconbio.org > > Fall Teaching Schedule & Office Hours: > Ecology: M,W 1-2:40 pm > Cell Biology: M 6-9:40 pm (don't ask!) > Forensic Science: T,R 10-11:40am > Office Hours: MW 12-1, 5-6, TR 11:40-12:30, > > 1880's: "There's lots of good fish in the sea" W.S. Gilbert > 1990's: Many fish stocks depleted due to overfishing, habitat loss, > and pollution. > 2000: Marine reserves, ecosystem restoration, and pollution reduction > MAY help restore populations. > 2022: Soylent Green is People! > > Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including any > attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may > contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized > review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not > the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and > destroy all copies of the original message. _________________________________________________________________ Express your personality in color! Preview and select themes for Hotmail®. http://www.windowslive-hotmail.com/LearnMore/personalize.aspx?ocid=TXT_MSGTX_WL_HM_express_032009#colortheme
