读博，读什么？

Working on a Doctoral Degree — what are you working on?

（中文：柳东阳；英文翻译：苗德岁）

 

【博主按：通过朋友的邮件，偶然与美国堪萨斯大学自然历史博物馆暨生物多样性研究中心的苗德岁先生有交流。苗先生曾到我所的国家动物博物馆进行《物种起源》的科普讲座。今天收到苗先生发来的《读博，读什么》的文章（中英对照版），读了几遍，很是喜欢，有些感慨。这篇不知作者的文章，苗先生借助他深厚的英文功底逐句翻译成英文，与他身边的美国学生分享。我对苗先生说当今多是洋文的文章翻译成中文居多，研究生教育方面的文章翻译成英文的不多，所以这也算是一景了。征得苗先生的同意后，转发在我的博客上，希望我的学生们，以及更多的年轻学子们，能够读到这些文字，并能够受益。真正明白“读博，读什么？”的道理。

读博，有“五读”：“一读寂寞，二读专业，三读关系，四读语言，五读坚强”。“博士，读的是自己的一点想法，读的是几分好奇，读的是二两苦涩，读的是家人的多重期待，读的是儿时的一个传闻。”更重要的，“来了，就读下去 ( Now that I’ve come,  I’ll keep going).”  看来“既来之，则安之”还不够，还要“读下去”。

 

很巧，今年8月在英国参会期间，看到很喜爱的生物学家E O Wilson刚出版的一本小书“Letters to a Young Scientist”（《给一位青年学者的信》），书封上有老先生跪在地上观察蚂蚁的照片，下面有句话:“First and foremost, I urge you to stay on the path you’ve chosen. And to travel on it as far as you can. The world needs you- badly.”（最重要的是，我劝你要坚持在你自己选择的道路上。在这条路上，能走多远就走多远。要知道，这个世界需要你。真的，非常需要你。”）。这句话，我也读了很多遍了，很多次想推荐给我的学生们，担心学生们说我又是老生常谈，这些他们早就听烦了。可是，我真的很喜欢这句话，对这句话很有感觉。一直想象着，作为世界级大学者的威尔逊，根据自己一生的科研经历，对一位年轻学者说出这句话的时候，是多么充满期待和理解啊。

 

读博士，“来了，就读下去”。

做学问，“坚持自己的选择，能走多远就走多远。”

谢谢苗先生的馈赠，谢谢他的劳动！

 

另，我在网上找到了苗先生的几首自嘲诗，放在后面与博友们分享。您可见他“长在汉英双语工”的功力。】

 

 

【苗德岁先生按 (2010-8-12)：这是最近在中文网站上被广为转载的一篇妙文，尚不知原作者是谁【博主注：经博友提示，本文原作者是科学网博主 柳东阳老师 http://blog.sciencenet.cn/home.php?mod=space&uid=215640&do=blog&id=285080】。该文思路邃密、文采飞扬，道尽现代科举路个中酸辛。我擅改了原文中的几处错别字和标点符号；之所以将它翻译成英文，是因为要给我身边的美国研究生们看，实际上他们的处境，也与国内研究生大同小异。文末的最后两句话，尤为精彩。作为过来的非成功人士，我想告诉后来者：这个“来了，就读下去”，真正是妙不可言。“读下去”不仅是要撑下去、熬下去，而且还要扎下来、钻进去--“板凳要坐十年冷，文章不写一句空”。“古来圣贤多寂寞”，唯有韧者留其名；用张弥曼院士的一句话，那就是要能咬紧牙(bite the bullet)。“行百里者半九十”，乃痛语也。退一步讲，像我们这号人，不读书，又能干啥？既然读了，就力求不要满足于一知半解。】

 

 

读博，读什么？（柳东阳）

Working on a Doctoral Degree — what are you working on? （苗德岁）

 

母亲有位远亲，据说在英国，八十年代终于回国探亲。母亲第一次和我说起人家是博士，当回国看到国内的烟囱冒着黑烟时，很有感叹称黑烟中可以提炼出好多东西，这样冒出去白白浪费了；还有不可考证的是英国人在他体内注射了药物，如果不按时回去，就会发作而死。童年的印象很深刻，现在还有记忆，一是知道了有个“博士”这个名称，二是听到到“西方外国”就联想到从烟囱里提炼东西，感觉人家好聪明。

 

My mother has a distant relative, who was said to live in England and came back to visit his relatives in China in the 1980s. My mother first mentioned to me that he is a PhD, and that during his visit, he saw the black smoke coming out of chimneys and commented, “What a waste? You could extract a lot of things from the smoke!”There was also an uncheckable anecdote, saying he was given some kind of shots in England, and if he did not return on time, he would die. The impression left in my childhood was so strong that I still remember it now. For one, I learned a title called “PhD”; moreover, once “western countries” were mentioned, I immediately fancied about extracting stuff from smoke and felt that the westerners were so smart.

 农家孩子上学没有太多的想法，五岁多，在生产队解散后的牛棚里上了育红班（我们是钦定的红色接班人了），在出粪口爬来爬去，好玩。上小学，目的很简单：省的到城里认不出男女厕所，让人家打出来。小学读完，身子骨没长成，到初中再读几年，长长个子，为以后说媳妇学泥瓦匠做准备。表兄四位，均是泥瓦匠，大表兄称瓦刀已经给我准备好了，后来没有用上，可惜了。祖母在1949以后扫盲时认了几个字，又忘掉了，她对读书没有感受，只给我念叨“三代不读书，赛过一窝猪，”读书有啥用？她也说不清。念了初中，下一步怎么办？父亲是高小毕业，母亲初中毕业，儿女要比他们高一点。那就向上走吧，高中，本科，硕士，博士。

 

Farm boys go to school without diddling around what it’s for. A little over five-year old, I was enrolled into a “little red guard kindergarten”that was previously an abandoned cattle shed of the village production unit (we automatically became revolutionary successors bestowed by the red emperor). Crawling around the cattle shit piles, we were having a lot of fun. Then, the purpose of my going to the elementary school was very straightforward: to avoid being beaten up for stepping into the wrong side of the restrooms in cities simply because I could not read the signs. Having finished the elementary school, I continued to attend the junior high, for I was still an immature lad; I needed to grow up and get ready for marriage and becoming a bricklayer. I have four cousins and all of them are bricklayers. The oldest cousin told me that he had already got me a brick laying knife; I’ve never had to use it—what a pity!  My grandmother was an illiterate: she learned a few characters after 1949 when there was a nationwide drive to rid of illiteracy, and then she forgot them all. Hence, she had no particular feelings about school, except for often telling me: “A family without anybody going to school in three generations is just like a pig pen.”What’s the use of going to school? She, however, had no faintest idea! Soon the junior high was over, and then what’s the next? Well, since my father only finished the elementary and my mother the junior high, the kids got to do a tad better. I’ve had to keep going—the senior high, college, masters, and now PhD.

 
 求学，由被动到主动，由农村到城市，由儿童到而立。我也跌跌撞撞迈入这个行当，那么，读博士，读的是什么？

 

So, going to school, from passive acceptance to active pursuits, from countryside to cities, and from a child to thirtysomething, I have bumped along and now entered into the trade.  Then, working on a PhD—what am I working on?
 

一读寂寞。没有读博的本科同学，已经有房有车，事业根基也已扎稳。没有上大学的儿时玩伴，房子是二层小楼，孩子是两个绕膝，虽然每年还要为钱发愁。人家是过日子，博士是盼日子。街头灯红酒绿，不是你的；林下爱人密语，不是你的；试验室的瓶子，没有生机的罐子，是你的。人的七情六欲，都隐藏在乱发遮掩的脑袋里。外在的就是一个看文献，做试验，写文章，偶尔叹气的老学生。仿一句网络语：哥做的不是学问，是寂寞！都在批世道浮躁，博士要在这浮躁中寻求寂寞，博士很可爱。

 

First, working on a PhD amid lonesomeness. Those college buddies who kissed goodbye to a doctorial degree are now pretty well established with their own flats and cars. Those childhood playmates who did not go to college at all are now having two kids running around and a two-storey house, though still worrying about money every now and then. However, they are living a life while we PhD candidates are looking forward to a life. The bustling life of the city is not ours; the whispering serenade under the canopy is not ours. Ours are those lifeless bottles and jars in the lab!  We conceal our feelings and desires in the head with untidy hair. Our evergreen appearance is the stereo-typed old students who only dig into references, work on projects, and write up manuscripts, perhaps with an occasional sigh. To emulate a net phrase: your brother is not doing research—he is doing his time: the time of abyssal loneliness. Everybody is bitching about the shallowness and impulsiveness prevailing in today’s society, amidst which WE, and we alone, are searching for lonesomeness—we are a lovable lot!

 二读专业。博士非博学之士，乃是专了又专之士。读完博士，在自己研究的这个小课题内，应该是是个“专家，”此专家不是国家级，省部级，地市级这样不伦不类的中国式称呼的专家，乃是基于对本课题的国内现状、国际前沿、历史渊源有详细、系统的掌握的才俊。把专业泛化，在这过程中掌握的对学科把握的能力也可以迁移到相近学科或方向，在博士毕业之后可以自己不受原来课题方向之限向其他方向转移。最终，在这个学科内成为专业人士，某圈子内必须提到的某些人，你很可能名列其中。

 

Second, working on a PhD to become a specialist. A PhD is not as its Chinese translation indicates: a know-it-all person. A PhD is a specialist. Upon finishing PhD, we are expected to become a “specialist” in our narrow field of study. However, we are not an “expert” with a far-fetched and laughable Chinese title such as “national level”, “provincial or ministerial level”, or “municipal level” expert. We strive to have a detailed and systematic grasp of what was and is going on in our field both at home and abroad. Then, we can jump out of the box to apply what we have learned to related areas of study, not to be caged in the tiny box we used to be spoon-fed as a student. Ultimately, we may become one of those names that must be mentioned within the small circle of the scientific subdiscipline.

 
 三读关系。这个关系，是指博士生个人对于师生关系的体悟，对于同窗关系的建立。从导师身上，学习他如何处理实验室事务，如何管理这个团队，如何应对风险与危机。也许不远的一天，学生也会成为导师，未雨绸缪，先把导师的招法学过来。师生关系，近乎上下级，又带些亲情在里面，可以认为是走上工作岗位前的预演，处理好这层关系，到了工作岗位不如鱼得水，也不至于太磕磕碰碰。同窗关系，一是学术上的互相帮助，大家都要活下去，实验室的老人带新人，论文的署名，教材的编译，更别提基金、项目了。二是人脉（很“俗”的提法，但实情又是如此），是个人以后行走于学术、业界江湖的有力资源。三进一步锻炼情商，要和来自五湖四海背景不同人打成一片，真要点能力。君不见，某些同志在实验室是香饽饽，谁都喜欢；而一些同志离群索居，孤独求败。孤独并不是一种美，除非你是大哲学家思考宇宙人生，我辈俗人团队作战还是要混在一起，怎样粘，也是学问。

 

Third, working on a PhD while working with other people. First of all, one must learn how to work well with one’s major professor and fellow graduate students. From the major professor, we learn how to run the lab, manage the research group, and handle risks and crises. Maybe in a not too distant future, we’ll become major professors ourselves, and we have to prepare for it by learning the necessary skills from our bosses now. The relationship between a PhD advisor and a PhD student is in some way like that between a boss and an underling, with a remote sense of “family tie” in it. This may be considered as a preadaptation for a real job in the wild real world. The ability of maintaining a decent relationship with your major professor now may prove to be vital for the real world situation—you will be able to squeeze by if not cruise along. The relationship with your fellow graduate student is just as important: you have to help each other, and after all everybody is trying to keep his/her head above the water. The senior students lead the junior ones; we are bound by the common endeavors: authorship of the co-authored papers, compilation/translation of textbooks, let alone grants and projects. Secondly, networking, though seemingly a “poor taste” but realistically a necessary evil. This will prove to be resourceful for your career. Thirdly, further raise your EQ score: being able to work with all kinds of people requires real talent. Why are some people so popular in the lab and loved by all while others are lonely souls, destined to fail? Incapacity to fit in is not a beauty unless you were a great philosopher only thinking about the universe and human conditions. We ordinary folks have to be able to stick together in the team work: how to stick is an art.

 四读语言。在SCI满天飞的时下，英文很关紧，中文更关紧。写汇报，整总结，要基金，都是用中文在说话。写的漂亮，从立题，展开，收尾，让别人跟着你的思路走，而不是让别人挑你的刺。笔头子厉害，嘴巴还要好，怎样说比说什么重要。站在几位大腕面前，可以侃侃而谈，把自己的工作完美地展现给他们，请他们由挑剔的目光转为赞许的微笑，这是一种功夫。要练，勤写，多说，每一次公开讲话都是历练。胸有千岩万壑，口吐绕梁之音，应该朝这个方向努力。若别人评论：还是博士，讲话怎么是这样？就是读博的失败之一。

 

Fourth,working on a PhD while brushing up your language skills. In the age of “publish or perish”, English is important and Chinese is even more important. Writing progress reports, final reports, and grant proposals all require an excellent command of language. Good writers can lead you from thought to thought on his page, such as topic sentence, elaboration, and smooth ending, instead of being nitpicked by you. Speaking is equally important: it’s often more about how you say it than what you say. Standing in front of several big shots in your field, being able to eloquently and fluently present your work to them, and as a result, you managed to turn their hypercritical looks into the nodding smile—man, that’s real talent! “Practice makes perfect”: practice, write often and speak more, and every presentation is an on-the-job training. With a sharp mind and silver tongue—that’s your goal! If somebody were to make a comment like this, “Look, with a PhD under his belt, how could he be so poorly-versed?” That’d mean a total failure.

 五读坚强。坚强在今天是否稀缺？我不知道。只是从读博开始，就踏上了漫漫征途，顺利反而是稀缺。要面对未知的试验结果，要应付必发论文的死限，要调整自己的心态，要处理大小事务。这个时候真的要坚强。社会的进程在走向逆淘汰，博士不是过上体面生活的保证，没有根基，只有自己奋斗。冷静的认识这个现实，自己激励自己。在经历中慢慢的坚强。

 

Fifth, working on a PhD to become tough. Is toughness a rare item today? I don’t know. But please remember, as soon as you start to work on your PhD, it’s a long road of no return and the favorable condition may become a rarity. Faced with unpredictable experimental results, deadlines of the must-be-published papers, you must adjust your attitude and deal with various problems with toughness and aplomb. The society is marching toward a reversed natural selection, and having a doctorial degree is no longer a pass to a dignified life. Without connections and a lucrative trust fund, we must struggle for survival by ourselves. Calmly facing this reality, we must encourage ourselves to fight, gradually becoming tougher and tougher.

 
 “谈谈你对博士的认识？”在考博的面试现场，一位教授问。应答者不假思索，“博士就是向科学家迈进的一个阶段，”考官微笑，不置可否。考官解到：读了博士，只是说明你在专业上取得了一个学位，不一定就能成为科学家，很可能就是一个高级打工仔，最多就是一个高级技术人员。博士，它就是一个门票。在某些地方很有用，在某些地方啥也不是！

 

“Tell us about what you know about a doctorial degree?” a professor asked at an oral exam. “It is a step toward becoming a scientist,” the student answered without a second thought. The professor winced, and left it at that. Then, the professor explained: a doctorial degree is only a manifest of your earning a degree in your field of study, and it does not necessarily earn you a spot among the rank of scientists. You may become an upper-level worker or a senior technician at most. A doctorial degree is only an admission ticket: it may allow you to get into the door at some places, and it may not elsewhere!

 博士，读的是自己的一点想法，读的是几分好奇，读的是二两苦涩，读的是家人多重期待，读的是儿时的一个传闻。

 

Working on a PhD is to have an idea of my own, to have some curiosities, to have a bit of bitter-sweetness, to try to fulfill my family’s expectations, and to carry on my childhood’s wonder out of hearsay.

 
 来了，就读下去。

 

Now that I’ve come, I’ll keep going.

 

**********************************

附：苗德岁先生的自嘲诗（来自网络，先致谢）：

一剪梅 五十自嘲

 (一)

虚度半生未虚行。别了青春, 误了青春。尊卑荣辱过眼云。 诗里乾坤, 书里乾坤。

一世重学不重名。来亦无痕, 去亦无痕。 与人无碍也无争。 醒也安心, 睡也安心。

 

 (二)

  浪迹天涯踽踽行。不想伤春, 总又伤春。此情此意言难尽。悲也姝坤, 喜也姝坤。惟重友情不争名。无不友朋, 无几友朋。朝读诗书暮听琴。有酒也成, 无酒也成。

 

还有一首苗先生的自嘲诗：

 

少小不学老大空，

闲书阅遍倍轻松。

平生自省无长处，

长在汉英双语工。

 

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