Archive for April 5th, 2008
links for 2008-04-05
In Case You Want to Take a PhD
Brian Leitner has some advice and even if political science is not philosophy (we are probably better organised and less aloof), it may be worth reading if you consider taking a PhD.
The Best Years of Our Lives?
Promted by a John McCain speech, Matthew Yglesias wonders:
“Memory often accords our high school years the distinction of being among the happiest of our lives.” Does it? I thought people usually hated high school. Am I wrong?
Obviously I can only speak for myself but viewed with the benefit of hindsight (aka the age of 43), I’d say that the years between 15 and 21 were the least happy in my life.
I’m sure biologists and psychologists can come up with some good explanations because my guess is that biological factors (rather than factors having to do with individual people) are at play here but compared with what came before and especially what came after, my high school years and first semesters at university really do not seem very rewarding.
And just to restate my point in case any of my old teachers, classmates from high school or people like that happen to read this: I really don’t think it had to do with the people around me at the time – I’ve met some pretty annoying and even outright destructive people and been though crises related to my professional life before and after – my private life has generally been pretty stable – but in general they haven’t had as upsetting effects as things that happened when I was in my late teens and early twenties.
But as some of the commentators to Yglesias’ post suggest, all of this may of cause indicate that I am a nerd at heart.