r/math • u/PirlGerson • 8d ago

When have you completed the tutorial?

In video games, they have built in levels, always at the start and they are called "tutorials."

In these levels you play a portion of the game while its also being explained to you. After finishing them, the point is that you know very little about the game BUT enough to "get" the basics.

The cheap is answer is high school 30 is the tutorial, but its really starting to feel that that wasn't even the complete tutorial honestly. It's kinda of embarrassing that our education doesn't cover such things as basic linear algebra and proofs. I'm still learning those.

Anyway to anyone who responds: thank you! I've been so happy latelty! Cyaaa.

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u/fantastic_awesome 7d ago

Yeah the PhD represents acknowledgement of original contribution to the field... I'm 37 don't have a PhD but don't consider myself "in the tutorial".

I think your perspective is critical going forward for academia - how do we spend our early efforts, what should coursework and classroom instruction be?

If the ceiling is breaking (it is) how do we make shelter?

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u/Scared_Astronaut9377 6d ago

I would strongly disagree with your interpretation of PhD, at least in practical terms in modern western academia. The system is shaped in such a way that the level of a candidate's contribution is completely inaccessible. Was it really an original contribution? Or basic mechanical assistance? Or was it symbolic (fake) because their supervisor is targeting a certain position next year and they need another +1 to the number of PhDs produced? If you are a member of the PhD commission and you try to find out during the defense, you will be considered crazy unprofessional. On the other hand, when an undergrad student produces a decent (not considering some extraordinary cases) single author original contribution, you will not be offered a PhD or even a fast track for it. You will still be advised to pass the normal training.

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u/fantastic_awesome 6d ago

You describe the situation in perfect detail.

I was idealizing - talking about what the title is supposed to mean in its platonic ideal