Fair Treatment as a PhD Graduate: My Experience in Michigan and India

[Jasongreat]

The modern concept of a "PhD" goes back only to the mid-to-late 19th century. That excludes Newton (who, incidentally, did have a degree from Trinity), Faraday, and possibly Tesla and Edison. Yale adopted the modern PhD program in 1861, being the first school in the US to do so. Edison would have been 14 then. Edison was a very successful inventor and businessman, but made few if any contributions to fundamental science. Tesla's situation is particularly unclear - some sources say he had a degree from Graz, others say he did not.

Einstein had a PhD from ETH.

I would encourage you to take a look at Nobel prize winners in Physics and see how far back you have to go to find one without an advanced degree.

Woops, Sorry for being wrong(not the first time and surely not the last). Youre right I should have checked into my argument a lot better. I agree that Edison doesn't really fit in here, as we were discussing acedemics, but I included him to show that good things CAN and DO happen outside the institution, and that it is not absolutely neccesary to go into the institution in order to be successfull, so if you do CHOOSE to go into the system you should try to abide by the system you chose to go to, instead of going but not doing what they ask of you and then bitching about being treated unfairly. Sorry again I should have known better than to try and get a faulty argument by a bunch of physicists. It is surely not my intention to be thrown into the group of people that whine about 2+2 being three, but so far I feel that's where I have placed myself on this forum.

P.S. Even though it was my mistakes that lead to my being corrected, and thank you for correcting me as my statements were barely worth the time taken to correct them, Was I Treated Fairly? LOL.

 

[Preno]

I have recently got my ph.d. (last May) in Michigan and right now I am doing postdoc in India. But, even though the situation that I am about to describe is few years in the past, I would still like your take as to whether you think I been treated farly or not. In order to present accurate picture the story is quite long so this forum doesn't allow that size of a post. For that reason I will simply refer you to another forum where I made the same post, and then you can come back here and respond.

Here it is: http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt106767.html

Dude. You cannot keep blaming everything, no matter how unrelated, on your "Asperger's". Asperger's doesn't cause people to be racist *******s, nor does it absolve you from being responsible for not meeting the deadlines and so on. The first step to recovery is to actually acknowledge your fault, rather than desperately looking for absurd justifications.

 

[Geometrick]

I will not even make a judgement about whether or not you were treated fairly.

I am STUNNED (STUNNED!) you are bringing this up in such a public forum. The fact that you air this issue out on a message board and leave yourself almost no anonymity is astounding.

 

[Count Iblis]

The fact that you air this issue out on a message board and leave yourself almost no anonymity is astounding.

Unless he really has Asperger's

 

[shoehorn]

For what it's worth, one of the people that the OP mentioned in his rant has told me a rather interesting story. The upshot of it is that the mods may wish to remove this thread now to head off any involvement in any legal action which may be taken.

 

[Pyrrhus]

For what it's worth, one of the people that the OP mentioned in his rant has told me a rather interesting story. The upshot of it is that the mods may wish to remove this thread now to head off any involvement in any legal action which may be taken.

I'm not sure about the veracity of this statement, but I'm sure this thread won't benefit the OP. Just consider that the OP provided an unpleasant story while identifying each character by their real names. Furthermore, his own name although not present is easily trackable. Unfortunately, casualset's story is just a recipe for disaster.

 

[Count Iblis]

Another question is if he is giving his girlfriend enough time:

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=314124

 

[Geometrick]

I think we should close this thread before any more damage is done. This guy is saying some borderline unnerving things about a respected scientist.

 

[Vanadium 50]

The first step to recovery is to actually acknowledge your fault, rather than desperately looking for absurd justifications.

The OP does acknowledge his fault. What he doesn't do is accept the consequences of these actions.

As he admits himself - people told him what he had to do, and he didn't believe them. Somehow, that means that it's not his fault. Huh?

The other bizarre thing is that the OP wants to be "famous like Einstein" (see the girlfriend thread), so obviously wants people talking about him. The thing is, he complains it's unfair when people talk about him. How can he have it both ways? I can understand him not liking the fact that the main topic of discussion is his repeated screw-ups, but again, whose responsibility is that?

Finally, I have concluded that what the OP is really fishing for is not our opinions, but some sort of validation that yes, he is a genius who was treated unfairly by "the system". A validation it looks unlikely that he will get.

I think there is a lesson in this - grad school faculties want their students to succeed. the advice they are giving is worth paying attention to, and where the OP went awry is when he decided that he knew better, and would do something else.

 

[brf4n]

I think we should close this thread before any more damage is done. This guy is saying some borderline unnerving things about a respected scientist.

yeah, the kind of manic attitude the TC represents won't get you anywhere...it's ok to think those things about people, but you have to realize it's not acceptable to act out, and...he just needs to grow up, whether it be with counseling or medication.

if everyone is against you...it's probably you that's the problem, and not them. i used to be like that, and it really reflects your emotional problems. not everyone is out to get you.

if you are thinking like that, and you don't want to change, you should probably get out of the situation.

 

[Pyrrhus]

I think there is a lesson in this - grad school faculties want their students to succeed. the advice they are giving is worth paying attention to, and where the OP went awry is when he decided that he knew better, and would do something else.

I want to emphasize this as well, by pointing out that the OP got his PhD at the end when he followed instructions.

 

[Vanadium 50]

I think we should close this thread before any more damage is done. This guy is saying some borderline unnerving things about a respected scientist.

Which one? Bombelli? While the OP did accuse him of scientific misconduct (without, however, saying "I accuse him of scientific misconduct" and instead saying that he put his name on a paper that he made no significant scientific contribution to), he later backed off and said that his original statement was untrue and and Bombelli did make significant scientific contributions.

If I were Luca Bombelli, I'd be pretty unhappy, particularly because the OP made this claim three times before he retracted it. But that ship has sailed.

If I were a member of the Asperger's community, I'd also be pretty unhappy (more like "hopping mad"), as the OP paints a very unflattering (and IMHO, incorrect) view of the condition: that people with Asperger's have no control over their actions and choose to deliberately hurt others. Indeed, if this were true, a good case could be made that people with Asperger's should be locked up for their safety and the safety of others. But again, that ship has sailed too.

In neither case would locking the thread serve a useful purpose - you can't unring a bell. Furthermore, most of the really bad stuff is over on Wrong Planet anyway.

The value in this thread now is to point out what others can learn from this experience: see the last couple of posts between me and Cyclovenom for an example.

 

[atyy]

NINDS Asperger Syndrome Information Page
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/asperger/asperger.htm

"With effective treatment, children with AS can learn to cope with their disabilities, but they may still find social situations and personal relationships challenging. Many adults with AS are able to work successfully in mainstream jobs, although they may continue to need encouragement and moral support to maintain an independent life."

A guide to asperger syndrome
Christopher Gillberg
http://books.google.com/books?id=gBvjadMASiMC

"Individuals affected with Asperger Syndrome are often misunderstood and sometimes misdiagnosed when they apply for help"

p30 "The teacher at school may be told she has a foul breath, that she is ignorant, or that she has ill fitting clothes. Alternatively she may be 'complimented' on having a nice bra"

 

[causalset]

For what it's worth, one of the people that the OP mentioned in his rant has told me a rather interesting story. The upshot of it is that the mods may wish to remove this thread now to head off any involvement in any legal action which may be taken.

Who was it?

Can you just make it clear to everyone that the reason I made this thread is that I was bored and wanted to post?

I mean, yes, IN THE PAST it was really upsetting me. Right now, I don't really care, it was in the past. Well yes I do care, but the only part I do care about is that I am 29 year old and could have been younger if I didn't make mistakes. BUT THAT IS MY FAULT, NOT THEIRS. None of them slowed me down since none of them SUCCEEDED in expelling me.

So, since none of them SUCCEEDED in expelling me, I don't really care that THEY treated me unfairly, since it is IN THE PAST. WHy I made this post? BECAUSE I WAS BORED.

I really don't want this to lead to a legal action. It would be VERY SILLY to ruin my career NOT because I can't get myself to study or follow instructions, but simply because I post something OUT OF BOREDOM.

I was unaware that posts like that can ruin career, I thought internet is like a street.

So can you contact whoever told you "interesting story" and reverse it?

 

[xxChrisxx]

Oh would you please please stop whining.

This is one of the reasons you arent getting on in life, incessantly moaning and being stubborn are two things that < profanity removed > people off. Those traits are NOT asbergers relatied, they are traits of the person themself.

You weren't treated unfairly, accept YOU messed up, grow up, move on.


Edit: And you clearly can't follow instructions, otherwise you wouldn't have ****ed up so much. It is interesting to note that when you DID eventiually follow instructons you got on and completed your PhD.

 

[causalset]

Oh would you please please stop whining.

This is ont of the reasons you arent getting on in life, incessantly moaning and defending your obviously poor position.

You weren't treated unfairly, accept YOU messed up, grow up, move on.

Okay I am MOVING ON. I promise I will NEVER whine about it online or in person to anyone EVER.

All I am asking is whoever have communicated to any of the ppl involved, just tell them I was bored and wanted to post, WHICH IS TRUE.

 

[xxChrisxx]

Good, I am not saying we can't discuss it, or that you shouldn't talk about it to people, just try your best to not whine.

I am not trying you bash you or put you down here.

You've also got to think, that when besically its you vs pretty much everyone else (as is evident from the poll) that maybe, just maybe, they are making a point that you should take on board.