Lee Daniel Crocker writes:
>Congratulations. And don't pay any attention to what I said
>earlier about the value of a Ph.D. :-)
Thanks for the good wishes everyone!
There are a lot of costs to going back to school when you're older,
rather than just keeping on when you're younger, but I think one of the
benefits is that it doesn't go to your head.
I know I haven't changed that much; just learned the standards and
literature of existing research in certain areas. And I've had time
to contribute my own research. I also know full well there are lots
of smart and interesting people without degrees. And I know that if
you want to directly attack the most interesting questions, you'll
likely have to do that in your own spare time, whether you're an
academic or not.
There are lots of good reasons not to do what I've done, but "I
couldn't do it" isn't one of them. I'm pretty sure most of you could
do this if you wanted, regardless of your age.
Robin D. Hanson hanson@hss.caltech.edu http://hss.caltech.edu/~hanson/