Thursday, November 5, 2015

Dealing with uncertainty and ambiguity

One of the toughest challenges in doctoral studies is dealing with uncertainty and ambiguity. Research is inherently uncertain and non-deterministic. When you start working on a problem, there are no guarantees that a solution exists or you will be able to solve the problem.

Similarly, when you start working on a problem things are often not clear. To find a solution, you need to keeping moving forward despite ambiguity. Perhaps, this could be best described in Andrew Wiles’s words:

"Perhaps I can describe my experience of doing mathematics as entering a dark mansion, when one enters the first room, its dark, its really dark, one stumbles around bumping into the furniture, and gradually learns where each piece of furniture is. Finally after 6-months or so you find the light switch, you turn it on and its all illuminating, you can see exactly where you were..."

I have discovered these to be life lessons, as life is also inherently uncertain and ambiguous.
Hi All,

My Ph.D. journey is coming to an end -- I am graduating this year (2015) in December. These 6 years have been like a roller coaster ride, and I have had a variety of experiences that have allowed me to discover more about myself. I have decided to write and share my experiences, accumulated over the course of this journey. I will write about both work and non-work related experiences, failures and successes, and reflect them in the light of my choices, and note the lessons learnt. This exercise is meant to be both a catharsis of sorts and also an opportunity to share experiences which may benefit others.