this post was submitted on 28 Jun 2024
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Science Memes

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[–] [email protected] 32 points 1 month ago (4 children)

They're not trying to destroy your thesis, they're trying to make sure it's complete and sccurate. In theory, the only person who knows the material is you, so they can't just ask anyone else.

I never really understood why they call it a defense. Nobody's going in there trying to insult or fight it.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

->Enter Thesis defense. Scream "Your thesis sucks!". You or your thesis now have to fight me

Tbh this scenario sounds way better to me than asking detailed questions about methodology or the results. But somehow I want to keep my job.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago

Two dissertations enter, one dissertation leaves.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

So...this video doesn't depict a real thesis defence? Awkward...

https://youtu.be/Lrlro3YJ15o?si=h2D4FqXGmC-WvXtm

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Nobody's going in there trying to insult or fight it.

Lmao

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

That person went to a department that was WAY less toxic than mine was.

That said, my committee was lovely and my thesis and dissertation were relatively low-stress compared to some of the horror stories I've heard.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

How science often works is you try to disprove things, and if you can't, you accept them as likely to be true. So, to show that the thesis is complete and accurate, they're trying to find places where it's incomplete or inaccurate. In the defense, your job is to defend against these attempts.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

So trying to destroy it and making sure its accurate and complete turns out to be the same thing