History Main / GeniusesHaveMultiplePhDs

[[ArtisticLicenseEducation In real life, not really]]. Very few people get two [=PhDs=]; the career benefits for getting more than one tend to be minimal compared to the time tradeoff, and virtually none get more than two. The vast majority of distinguished experts have one because a Ph.D.[[note]]it stands for ''Doctor of Philosophy'', dates back to when "philosophy" was a near-synonym for "science", and is the highest degree you can get in any scientific field[[/note]] mainly proves that you are capable of independent research, and should only be the ''first'' step towards becoming a top researcher/academic. If a professor wants to publish in a new field they usually don’t back to school. Instead they just…[[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Hofstadter do research]] and [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_D._Friedman publish in]] [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_von_Neumann that field]]. And regardless of the student's brilliance, even the quickest graduates take at least a few years to do so because of required coursework and the amount of research needed to be conducted to prove one's dissertation hypothesis. Multiple ''masters' degrees'' or postdoctoral fellowships make more sense in terms of broadening one's horizons since they are shorter and (in the case of the former) partially coursework-based. Although getting a second Ph.D. can help with switching fields and updating one’s research skillset, anymore than 2 is redundant and pointless. Further, a university is a lot less likely to award doctorate degree funding to candidates that already have a Ph.D., so getting a second one would be financially difficult for most people. Furthermore, actual scholars consider having more than one Ph.D. (especially if they are in unrelated fields) as a ''red flag'' instead of an impressive accomplishment, as it could be a sign for being indecisive in a choice of career or being an eternal student who's not eager to actually start their academic career.

[[ArtisticLicenseEducation In real life, not really]]. Very few people get two [=PhDs=]; the career benefits for getting more than one tend to be minimal compared to the time tradeoff, and virtually none get more than two. The vast majority of distinguished experts have one because a Ph.D.[[note]]it stands for ''Doctor of Philosophy'', dates back to when "philosophy" was a near-synonym for "science", and is the highest degree you can get in any scientific field[[/note]] mainly proves that you are capable of independent research, and should only be the ''first'' step towards becoming a top researcher/academic. If a professor wants to publish in a new field they usually don’t back to school. Instead they just…[[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Hofstadter do research]] and [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_D._Friedman publish in]] [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Godel that field]]. And regardless of the student's brilliance, even the quickest graduates take at least a few years to do so because of required coursework and the amount of research needed to be conducted to prove one's dissertation hypothesis. Multiple ''masters' degrees'' or postdoctoral fellowships make more sense in terms of broadening one's horizons since they are shorter and (in the case of the former) partially coursework-based. Although getting a second Ph.D. can help with switching fields and updating one’s research skillset, anymore than 2 is redundant and pointless. Further, a university is a lot less likely to award doctorate degree funding to candidates that already have a Ph.D., so getting a second one would be financially difficult for most people. Furthermore, actual scholars consider having more than one Ph.D. (especially if they are in unrelated fields) as a ''red flag'' instead of an impressive accomplishment, as it could be a sign for being indecisive in a choice of career or being an eternal student who's not eager to actually start their academic career.

[[ArtisticLicenseEducation In real life, not really]]. Very few people get two [=PhDs=]; the career benefits for getting more than one tend to be minimal compared to the time tradeoff, and virtually none get more than two. The vast majority of distinguished experts have one because a Ph.D.[[note]]it stands for ''Doctor of Philosophy'', dates back to when "philosophy" was a near-synonym for "science", and is the highest degree you can get in any scientific field[[/note]] mainly proves that you are capable of independent research, and should only be the ''first'' step towards becoming a top researcher/academic. If a professor wants to publish in a new field they usually don’t back to school. Instead they just…[[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Hofstadter do research]] and [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_D._Friedman publish in]] [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_G%C3%B6del that field]]. And regardless of the student's brilliance, even the quickest graduates take at least a few years to do so because of required coursework and the amount of research needed to be conducted to prove one's dissertation hypothesis. Multiple ''masters' degrees'' or postdoctoral fellowships make more sense in terms of broadening one's horizons since they are shorter and (in the case of the former) partially coursework-based. Although getting a second Ph.D. can help with switching fields and updating one’s research skillset, anymore than 2 is redundant and pointless. Further, a university is a lot less likely to award doctorate degree funding to candidates that already have a Ph.D., so getting a second one would be financially difficult for most people. Furthermore, actual scholars consider having more than one Ph.D. (especially if they are in unrelated fields) as a ''red flag'' instead of an impressive accomplishment, as it could be a sign for being indecisive in a choice of career or being an eternal student who's not eager to actually start their academic career.