What does it mean to have a PhD?

As I have stated before, I am in the throws of dating. When men find out I have a doctorate, the tone suddenly changes. People start talking to me using GRE words and I suppose they feel like they have to "prove" their intelligence. Up to this point in this blog the largest word I've used is intelligence... I am not a pretentious person nor do I like arrogance. Plus I work with kids who have no idea what the word pretentious or arrogant means. Please just be who you are and speak how you normally do because in all honestly, having a PhD doesn't mean a great deal if you're not able to connect with people.

Having a PhD just means you have a great deal more knowledge in some very small aspect of the world. You create a dent in the worlds knowledge in one teeny-tiny space. It does not mean the world needs to bow down to you or that you any more intelligent than the next person. I was told a story of a person who had a leak in the pipes of their home. They, with all their knowledge did not know how to stop this one tiny leak. So, the man called the plumber and within five minutes stopped the leak. The plumber then charged $750.00 for the service call. Even though the homeowner has a doctorate level education, it was the specialized knowledge of the plumber who could fix the problem. The plumber technically has less education than the person with the doctorate, but it is the specialized knowledge that has the upper hand.

It doesn't matter if you have a doctorate or you are a plumber, we all have special knowledge that makes us valuable and needed. The person with the doctorate just paid a WHOLE lot more and spent WAYYYY more time getting there. Whatever station in life you are at educationally, learn as much as possible. Not in school? Continue to learn about the world around you.