![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stormsewerGraduate school is a great experience... to have had in the past. On this, my official graduation day, I've decided to write down some of what I learned, about being a scientist and a human being.1 (The TL;DR might be this.)
Hard work is more important than intelligence.2 If you're not willing to work, you simply won't get anywhere. I'm sorry. Intelligence and luck will determine your return on investment, but hard work is your base capital. There is no substitute. If there is one common characteristic of people who get doctoral degrees, it is (contrary to popular belief) not being smart; it is that they endure. You must possess the tenacity of a fishhook.
Fail quickly. This was a favorite saying of my advisor. Experimental science (and likely any creative endeavor) is like playing poker. The key skills are in knowing when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em, as soon as possible. Much of your labor (likely most of it, maybe all of it) will end in tears. Know it, live it. Don't expect things to work out, just be happy when they do. Reality is not your bitch; it's the other way around.
"Matters of small concern should be treated seriously."3 Obsessive attention to detail is the path to victory. Double-check everything, then check it again. If you don't know, ask someone. When in doubt, always err on the side of not screwing up. If you were wearing the polka-dotted underwear the time you finally got that stupid protocol to work, best wear it every time. Only the paranoid survive.
"Matters of great concern should be treated lightly."3 Doing this can prevent you being paralyzed by fear of failure. I mean, let's be honest, science (or whatever your chosen field is) doesn't really need you. There are few if any important discoveries in history that wouldn't have been made by someone else not long after. And you don't need science, either. Despite what they might tell you, you are not your job, or your academic transcript, or your publication record. Resist the urge to define yourself by the labels that might be applied to you, since reality may have other plans4. If you stay open and flexible (which you'll need to do anyway in order to be a good scientist), you'll find there are many other things you could be doing for fun and profit. So why do it?
Because you relish the challenge. Because it's all just a big game, and good games are both fun and difficult, which is what makes them so addictive. But if you take the game too seriously, you'll get played. The real possibility of abject failure cannot be a great worry to you if you expect to regularly undertake risky ventures, which include any worthwhile research project (and any attempt to win a non-trivial game). So just chill out already. It takes courage to enjoy it, but if you can't manage to, perhaps you should be doing something else. That said...
A period of depression is not the worst thing that could happen. Of course it's hard to grasp this in its midst, but it's true. Depression, at least when triggered by external circumstances, comes about when things aren't going the way you want. Depression forces you to stop, take stock, figure out what went wrong, and, as you begin to come out of it, what to do about it. Depression is highly correlated with both creativity and grit, and there is a fair amount of experimental evidence showing that sadness leads to improved judgment, alertness, and problem-solving skills (see this article in the New York Times, which also includes the lovely quote: "If you're at the cutting edge, then you're going to bleed"). When things aren't working, depression forces you to focus on your problems and (slowly, perhaps) devise a new approach, be it technical or emotional. That is a good thing.
Though of course sometimes things are just going to suck. You have to decide for yourself whether it's worth it for you.
Good luck!
1I got a PhD in cell and molecular biology, and your mileage may vary in other fields and degrees. But, eh.
2 And enthusiasm is almost as important as hard work, but that I knew before graduate school.
3From the Hagakure, which, I'm only slightly ashamed to say, was basically my manual for life as a graduate student. Some other favorites that may be relevant here:
"There is something to be learned from a rainstorm. When meeting with a sudden shower, you try not to get wet and run quickly along the road. But doing such things as passing under the eaves of houses, you still get wet. When you are resolved from the beginning, you will not be perplexed, though you still get the same soaking. This understanding extends to everything."
"When meeting calamities or difficult situations, it is not enough to simply say that one is not at all flustered. When meeting difficult situations, one should dash forward bravely and with joy. It is the crossing of a single barrier and is like the saying, 'The more the water, the higher the boat.'"
"It is written that the priest Shungaku said, 'In just refusing to retreat from something one gains the strength of two men.' This is interesting. Something that is not done at that time and at that place will remain unfinished for a lifetime."
4Okay, this also I learned before graduate school, but it was quite useful in graduate school.
Hard work is more important than intelligence.2 If you're not willing to work, you simply won't get anywhere. I'm sorry. Intelligence and luck will determine your return on investment, but hard work is your base capital. There is no substitute. If there is one common characteristic of people who get doctoral degrees, it is (contrary to popular belief) not being smart; it is that they endure. You must possess the tenacity of a fishhook.
Fail quickly. This was a favorite saying of my advisor. Experimental science (and likely any creative endeavor) is like playing poker. The key skills are in knowing when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em, as soon as possible. Much of your labor (likely most of it, maybe all of it) will end in tears. Know it, live it. Don't expect things to work out, just be happy when they do. Reality is not your bitch; it's the other way around.
"Matters of small concern should be treated seriously."3 Obsessive attention to detail is the path to victory. Double-check everything, then check it again. If you don't know, ask someone. When in doubt, always err on the side of not screwing up. If you were wearing the polka-dotted underwear the time you finally got that stupid protocol to work, best wear it every time. Only the paranoid survive.
"Matters of great concern should be treated lightly."3 Doing this can prevent you being paralyzed by fear of failure. I mean, let's be honest, science (or whatever your chosen field is) doesn't really need you. There are few if any important discoveries in history that wouldn't have been made by someone else not long after. And you don't need science, either. Despite what they might tell you, you are not your job, or your academic transcript, or your publication record. Resist the urge to define yourself by the labels that might be applied to you, since reality may have other plans4. If you stay open and flexible (which you'll need to do anyway in order to be a good scientist), you'll find there are many other things you could be doing for fun and profit. So why do it?
Because you relish the challenge. Because it's all just a big game, and good games are both fun and difficult, which is what makes them so addictive. But if you take the game too seriously, you'll get played. The real possibility of abject failure cannot be a great worry to you if you expect to regularly undertake risky ventures, which include any worthwhile research project (and any attempt to win a non-trivial game). So just chill out already. It takes courage to enjoy it, but if you can't manage to, perhaps you should be doing something else. That said...
A period of depression is not the worst thing that could happen. Of course it's hard to grasp this in its midst, but it's true. Depression, at least when triggered by external circumstances, comes about when things aren't going the way you want. Depression forces you to stop, take stock, figure out what went wrong, and, as you begin to come out of it, what to do about it. Depression is highly correlated with both creativity and grit, and there is a fair amount of experimental evidence showing that sadness leads to improved judgment, alertness, and problem-solving skills (see this article in the New York Times, which also includes the lovely quote: "If you're at the cutting edge, then you're going to bleed"). When things aren't working, depression forces you to focus on your problems and (slowly, perhaps) devise a new approach, be it technical or emotional. That is a good thing.
Though of course sometimes things are just going to suck. You have to decide for yourself whether it's worth it for you.
Good luck!
1I got a PhD in cell and molecular biology, and your mileage may vary in other fields and degrees. But, eh.
2 And enthusiasm is almost as important as hard work, but that I knew before graduate school.
3From the Hagakure, which, I'm only slightly ashamed to say, was basically my manual for life as a graduate student. Some other favorites that may be relevant here:
"There is something to be learned from a rainstorm. When meeting with a sudden shower, you try not to get wet and run quickly along the road. But doing such things as passing under the eaves of houses, you still get wet. When you are resolved from the beginning, you will not be perplexed, though you still get the same soaking. This understanding extends to everything."
"When meeting calamities or difficult situations, it is not enough to simply say that one is not at all flustered. When meeting difficult situations, one should dash forward bravely and with joy. It is the crossing of a single barrier and is like the saying, 'The more the water, the higher the boat.'"
"It is written that the priest Shungaku said, 'In just refusing to retreat from something one gains the strength of two men.' This is interesting. Something that is not done at that time and at that place will remain unfinished for a lifetime."
4Okay, this also I learned before graduate school, but it was quite useful in graduate school.
