Wordpress iconWordpressSep 14, 2026

Did you start your PhD by reading and thinking widely and exhaustively for a year?

In his classic "Modest advice to graduate students," Steve Stearns advises PhD students (emphasis added): Assume that everything you read is bullshit until the author manages to … Continue reading →

Did you start your PhD by reading and thinking widely and exhaustively for a year?

Share this story

Send the public story page.

Useful takeaways from this story.

In his classic "Modest advice to graduate students," Steve Stearns advises PhD students (emphasis added):

Assume that everything you read is bullshit until the author manages to … Continue reading →

When you first arrive, read and think widely and exhaustively for a year.

Building the complete brief

The page is ready to read now. The fuller skim-friendly version will appear here automatically.

The useful part

In his classic "Modest advice to graduate students," Steve Stearns advises PhD students (emphasis added): Assume that everything you read is bullshit until the author manages to … Continue reading → When you first arrive, read and think widely and exhaustively for a year.

Details worth keeping

When you first arrive, read and think widely and exhaustively for a year.

Keep reading in the app

Open the app view to save this story, compare related coverage, and continue from the same source.

Open in app