Old folks getting PhDs

Discussion in 'General Distance Learning Discussions' started by warguns, Apr 22, 2016.

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  1. warguns

    warguns Member

  2. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    warguns and his sailboat :wink1:

    [​IMG]
     
  3. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

  4. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    I think some people are better students as they age - for a variety of reasons. Major thing: it's hard to concentrate on studying as a younger adult - particularly if you have young kids, a demanding job and a "Godzilla" mortgage that eats everything! Yes, people do it, but it's far from easy. My experience - in my later 40s & 50s - less distractions, particularly financial ones. Still far too lazy for a doctorate, though. :smile:

    I read about a British man who earned an Oxford doctorate in his 80s. Maybe he was just waiting until he could afford it! :smile:

    J.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 22, 2016
  5. AV8R

    AV8R Active Member

    I'm sure I could think of better things to do in my retirement years.
     
  6. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Yes - those things are better (for you) because you want and value them...

    "I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want..." (Spice Girls)

    I think in retirement years we should all spend as much time as possible doing what we want. It's our last chance to do so - for some it's the only chance they get. And you, AV8R, if you'd rather go to Borneo, you should go. If you want to live in the Himalayas, I suggest you start packing. Maybe take a course in Nepalese. :smile: If you wanted a doctorate.... well, you'd know what to do, I'm sure. But you don't. And that's fine.

    Me? Think I'll go play guitar for a while. Then take some pictures. ...Still looking for the right course in criminology. Photography one was great, though. :smile: So was the gardening course. Plus, I have 30+ years of hands-on in both areas. Then again, I've been neglecting electronics and Polish lately. Shame on me. Have to catch up!...

    J.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 22, 2016
  7. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    Another element - I guess it's common for people of a certain age to downsize their homes and move once their kids are grown, etc. So relocating to some college town where you can attend classes, etc. could be much more manageable.
     
  8. Rich Douglas

    Rich Douglas Well-Known Member

    First doctorate at 44. Second at 55. What's coming at 66?
     
  9. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    Maybe when you get to 102 you can get yourself one of those honorary associates degrees.:birthday:
     
  10. warguns

    warguns Member

    old people and PhDs

    There's a big difference between learning and getting a PhD. In the familiar quote: "Getting a PhD is learning more and more about less and less until you know absolutely everything about nothing".

    In addition, a PhD means monster hoops to jump through like two language exams, comprehensive exams, nit-pickers on your dissertation. Of course there are PhDs and then there are PhDs, I never advise a student to get a PhD unless it's from a highly ranked institution if you expect an academic career and only then if there's nothing else in THE WORLD that suits you. I read the other say that somebody got a PhD from Delaware State. The level of undergraduate education at DSU doesn't approach a decent high school.
     
  11. Neuhaus

    Neuhaus Well-Known Member

    I'm going to make an appointment with my doctor. Something must be wrong with me. I completely agree with warguns. This has never happened before....

    But seriously, when I was at Scranton they had a program to allow senior citizens to audit courses. And I had at least a handful of courses where seniors were active participants and seemed to be really enjoying themselves. Most of my profs allowed them to take the exams just for kicks but the majority of the time, they used to congregate for breakfast on exam days while us youngsters toiled.

    I'm a big fan of "do whatever you want." If you really want a PhD then, by all means, earn one. I can imagine there are seniors who worked incredibly demanding jobs who suddenly retire and have an enormous gap in their days. I know quite a few people who seem to need something to stress about and building birdhouses might not fill the need.

    Fact is, there are a lot of people who want to be called "Doctor." And there are a lot of people who refuse to admit that the title is their major motivator. So they say stuff like "I'm really interested in History" or "I want to conduct serious research" when you ask them why they are pursuing a doctorate. You can do both of those things without a doctorate. There are well respected historians out there who don't have doctorates. Heck, you can periodically find a well published, well regarded historian or philosopher who doesn't even have a completed undergrad degree. You want to study WW2 with full academic rigor? Then do it. Write articles and submit them for publication. If you're really good at it you can always get a PhD by Published Works.

    But, in the end, do what you want. If you want to stress yourself out and bust your butt for a doctorate, that's your choice.

    As for me, I'll be on the beach with a metal detector while wearing a Hawaiian shirt and a Gilligan hat.
     
  12. Sydney J. Bush

    Sydney J. Bush New Member

    Laugh!

    Newest member. What a nice forum. Polite sensible people. Little to disagree with. But I thought people here might like to here my story. I´m good at telling it. If you want the whole `Megilla´you can e-mail me at [email protected] and I´ll send you a free book. (Few will pay for it) I was a medical student. I didn´t particularly want to be a doctor. My Jewish mum wanted it. That´s what Jewish mums do. They `kvell´(maybe one `L´?) when they conversation goes my son´s going to be a doctor / accountant/ dental surgeon and they go "OH! We are so SORRY!" when one says her son´s going to be a rabbi! So that was out! I came to this question in Physiology. Anatomy was GREAT! no opinions! just sponge the hard facts Dead Easy! I knew the answers, all of them! But God clouded my brain in Physiology like when he put Adam to sleep and took a rib. (1st example of cloning!) and that screwed my medical career which then refused to be diverted into the treasure chest of UK NHS dentistry. The Dean PLEADED with me. NO! Hospital management? NO! He could pull strings! NO. My dad must have thought me a proper lunatic! No money. No nothing. God was playing tricks with me and he hasn´t finished. I´m 87 and he´s having FUN with me. Now I´m a `PROFESSOR! would you believe. OK Cosmopolitan University is so low in some people´s view that it´s under their shoe. But YOU WAIT! That´s going to change! Cosmo is going to humble Western Medicine. Somebody said to me "You aren´t a proper professor" I laughed. (ResearchGate) I replied. OK! Well if I don´t, who is going to teach CardioRetinometry then? Watch out. It is going to change your LIFE! Prospectus? for the Doctorate if you are a graduate AND registered in an appropriate health care profession. e-mail me.
     
  13. Phdtobe

    Phdtobe Well-Known Member

    For many years, I have been considering doing a doctorate in business/administration/accounting. I had no intention to be in academia; however, on the other had I wanted to be very good at something. Well that never happened. I could not figured out what I want to be very good at.
    Now that I am old, retirement around the corner, I think I’ve found what I was looking for to research. For over a decade, I have been working as an accountant with first nations and Inuit (Eskimos). During that time, I have witness how accounting, multiple accountability from afar, have been used to control indigenous people. As a visible minority, I found this intriguing and I need to learn more. So I will be receiving my social security checks, doing my doctorate, and hanging out on a beach on one of the grenadine islands, in St Vincent. To me that is a fulfilling life.

    My position is that free education should be for the youth – seniors should pay.
     
  14. warguns

    warguns Member

  15. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Sounds good to me. Which Grenadine?
     
  16. mbwa shenzi

    mbwa shenzi Active Member

    Cosmopolitan University...well, the list of recipients of honorary doctorates is full of names of interesting people, like Robert Ray Hill and Cesidio Tallini.
     
  17. Phdtobe

    Phdtobe Well-Known Member

    Bequia.

    Doing my doctorate will be like gardening, golfing or whatever endeavors people do in their retirement. I am pro-doctorate for anyone who wants to commit to do it.
     
  18. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    So am I - pro-doctorate, that is. But like gardening? I've enjoyed gardening for 50+ years and I suspect the effort required for a doctorate is several orders of magnitude greater than for gardening. I've heard that if doctoral study doesn't hurt, you're not doing it right. :smile:

    Gardening? Golf? Doctorate? I'd think the doctoral study would require a similar effort to either of these two pinnacles:

    (1) winning the U.S. Open or
    (2) winning the Head Gardener position at Sissinghurst or Giverny (Claude Monet's garden).

    J.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Apr 30, 2016
  19. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Cosmopolitan University is okay, but I prefer Tom Collins University.
     
  20. John Bear

    John Bear Senior Member

    It is interesting to hear from Professor Bush and his Cosmopolitan University. People from 'um, universities' often write so well (e.g. the Danish chap from Knightsbridge). It also interesting to learn about the matter of CardioRetinometry®, offered apparently only through CosmoU, Sounds like a Vitamin C 'cure' for many heart problems. Wonder if either of the doctorates offered by Cosmopolitan help gain acceptance?

    Here's the splendidly-distinguished-looking Professor Bush explaining it all: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qhcb302DPiY
     

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