How to Write a Thesis (1977) | Hacker News Reader

How to Write a Thesis (1977)

thereader.mitpress.mit.edu

153 pointsdadt22 comments

> If you do not know the definition of a term, avoid using it. If it is one of the principal terms of your thesis and you are not able to define it, call it quits. You have chosen the wrong thesis (or, if you were planning to pursue further research, the wrong career).

This seems like good advice for life, not just your thesis.

I have read the book and it's charming; as with much of what Eco writes, it's going to be of interest even to people who are not the target audience (students writing theses). Sometimes seemingly specialty books have the most interesting general lessons.

When reading this article...

...and the article a few days back

"Writing a Ph.D. thesis with Org Mode"

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20435576

My mind thinks about all these people reading articles instead of writing their thesis.

One of them may even be writing a thesis on HN comments (and commenting on HN rather than writing their thesis).

Back to work!

Any interesting findings?

It's all part of the yak shaving necessary to finish a thesis.

No actual yaks were harmed ...

Full text: https://b-ok.cc/book/2515965/9017f1

Thank you.

I own a heavily marked copy of this book in spite of having never written a thesis. It contains great advice for any long-term research oriented endeavor. As the article points out, not only will it help you get through the slog of momentous, detailed research without collapsing, it also contains sound advice on how to clear your head and prose before communicating your results.

Eco’s recommenced note taking system also superb. It’s no surprise he was able to write so prolifically.

Is much of this applicable to writing a dissertation? Is there anything it's missing for writing a dissertation?

Edit: ah, found my answer in chapter one (quoted it below). All of it should be applicable, as the "thesis" that this refers to is known as a "dissertation" outside of Italy. Perfect! I've been wanting to learn the PhD research process without bothering with the matters of financing a PhD and the deadlines.

> outside of Italy, the thesis proper generally applies to the doctorate, a degree pursued by those students who wish to specialize and pursue academic research in a particular discipline. Although the doctorate has various designations in different parts of the world, we will use the common abbreviation “PhD.” ... In universities around the world that traditionally grant the PhD, the thesis usually refers to a doctoral thesis, known as a “dissertation.” This is a piece of original research through which the candidate must demonstrate his scholarly capability of furthering his discipline.

He was lucky not to have seen "theses" written in my home country Turkey. 90% of them are copy pastes. I saw many PhD theses quoting wikipedia. Ridiculous.

In all fairness, it's really due to universities not focusing at all on teaching research. Having studied (and taught) at a research university in the Netherlands, I can tell why my friends... well, didn't give a shit about their theses. For them, it simply is a longer essay with a predefined structure and some guidelines on the exact word count and referencing style.

It's sad, but it's not really about Turkey. It's global, and caused by the universities not caring themselves, and not teaching students how to write.

A stirring defense of lucid and unpretentious writing, in a context when it is most needed.

Some great advice! Is there something like this more specific to computer science theses?

http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/shivers/diss-advice.html

I would have enjoyed reading the rest of that, but unfortunately a pop up appeared in the middle of the page as I scrolled down. I automatically close any page that does this. I can’t figure out why anyone thinks it is reasonable or appropriate to do that. Would you go up to someone in a library who is reading something and ask them if they want to subscribe to some crappy mailing list? Certainly not!

http://archive.is/QO4GQ

If you invited me to your library, where you have books you have paid for, I would not consider it rude if you interrupted me for a few seconds with this request.

Heck, if you DEMANDED I give you my email before coming in, I think I would accept the exchange.

Just click the X and be on with your day. This does not seem like a ridiculous request at all.

I have clicked on my last X for the day. This is getting to be worse than the X10 camera pop up ads from years ago. I’m a person, not a conversion or an eyeball, and if someone offers me a document I expect to be able to read it without being harassed. It’s a sad state of affairs when even MIT, an apparently esteemed university is only publishing information for the sake of the grift, rather than to stimulate the public intellect.

> This is getting to be worse than the X10 camera pop up ads from years ago.

Oh, the waves of nostalgia!

Understanding and reasoning about a text is a concentration-heavy activity that libraries exist to facilitate, and context-switching costs are similar to programming. In a library, it is rude to interrupt someone for any reason less urgent than closing time.

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