phd is a sacrifice

You don't get a PhD to "enjoy" it.
It is a structure to make sure you sacrifice enough, to painfully achieve certain goals.
Like almost anything useful in life.

There are other things that their purpose is to enjoy.
It is "research-training", like a boot-camp.
It is to achieve to execute, buin, "build a project. And to present it in a certain way. Once you did that once, you can do more yourself. (e.g., conduct research, run experiment, present, do more peojects like that, able to reach cerain level of competitiveness to controbute to the cutting ebndge, one of the cnceessaities is to attain the currintg edge in terms of knoelege, abut also: vision, intuition, ability to communicate, etc).
Once you do it, it not only "shows" that you can do it, but more importantly, it teaches you to do it.
Learning by doing.
Beacause surprisingly, many things needs to be learned for one to be able to finish "PhD as a porject". For exampoe, it needs to be presentable (piblicaiton standard) and "grafted".
Standard of work itself.
The executive aspects.
It raises the bar, to a ceratin bar: 1. As training, 2. as test.
If you cannot do it, it not only means you did not "test" (to demonstrate, prove) your ability, to "to others" to do it, it means you could not acquired the training.
At laest that time. Maybe you were not ready.
Very much life a bootcamp, a tough physical training. It can be easier for some poeple, since they already know ( by muscles (muscle memory, muscle fitness, etc), abilities, discipline, "know how", practicality, "have seen it, "been there, done that", etc). Those who are less fit, may need it more. It may be harder. But it means you need it more.
Those who already can do it, it will be reasier for them.
For them, it might be boring. But for them it has more of the value of "demontrainting to others", so that they can give reseources to. you (postdoc, academic projects, posittions, etc).
But even for the most fit, the PhD has training for them.
If PhD is hard for you, if means you need it more. (Sometimes it may mean you need to do somehitng before, like a Master degree, or an MPhil, etc). -- I mean if the reason to do PhD (i.e. "doing and finishign a project") is compelling (a binary condition: yes/no).
If it is boring, not challenging eough, usually it's not the reason for PphD drop-out.

It is key to set the expectations before PhD. Or before "decising" to do a PhD.
and to know what is the goal.
It is a project. Not a funfair. The same is professional achievements: profesional meanis having ceratin standards. Usually, PhD is steeper thatn professional. Professional prores is more gradual ( in certain ). but the professionality and seriousness, dedication, sacrifice, is the same. (a bit more in PhD: because part of the motivaiton is left to the candidate). Part of the suffering is from the discipines that is imposed form outside to be internalised.
It is interesitng that it is internalised. I think getting a second PhD should be easier after first time. In fact, each future research/pape, is like a repeated PhD. But they are much easier.

In taht sense, it's a bit like an "idempotent function" in functional programming...


The PhD is a guard-rail, a structure, to protect you from human's natural prpensity to ruin its goal, by its desire for enjoyment.
PhD is not for pleasure. You need to be prepared for that. You need to have a compelling reason, a mission, a sustained dedication, to self-inflict the suffering that is getting a PhD.


Conceived as a reply to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=si__oldQURM Title: "Got Better at Math After Leaving My PhD".


© 2025 Sohail Siadatnejad.