Some Poor grad student pressing on the flanks of a hamster and out comes a doctorate on the other side
Interpretation
Success often comes from persistent effort and creative problem-solving, even in the most unexpected situations.
This quote humorously illustrates the often arduous journey of academic pursuit, likening it to the whimsical notion of pressing on the flanks of a hamster to yield a doctoral degree. It highlights the challenges and absurdities faced by graduate students, suggesting that through determination and innovative approaches, they can achieve significant accomplishments, even if the path seems bizarre or unlikely.
In practice
This quote can be used at a graduation ceremony to inspire students about the unexpected paths to success.
I love science, and it pains me to think that so many are terrified of the subject or feel that choosing science means you cannot also choose compassion, or the arts, or be awed by nature. Science is not meant to cure us of mystery, but to reinvent and reinvigorate it.
We live well enough to have the luxury to get ourselves sick with purely social, psychological stress.
When the primary people who have influence and power in our communities are not even really allowed to educate you on who to vote for and against, we're in trouble.
Some of the most famous books are the least worth reading. Their fame was due to their having done something that needed to be doing in their day. The work is done and the virtue of the book has expired.
I grew up hearing stories about my grandmother - my mother's mother - who used to go to villages in India in her little VW bug. My grandmother would take a bullhorn and make sure women in these villages knew how to access birth control.
It would be great to have every engineer have at least some amount of knowledge of machine learning.
Teaching at best beckons us to morality, but it is not in itself efficacious. Teaching is like a mirror. It can show you if your face is dirty, but it the mirror will not wash your face.
My parents didn't know much science; in fact, they didn't know science at all. But they could recognize a science book when they saw it, and they spent a lot of time at bookstores, combing the remainder tables for science books to buy for me. I had one of the biggest libraries of any kid in school, built on books that cost 50 cents or a dollar.
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