PhDs

So what does it mean to have a PhD?

What it means is that you're pretty damned good at school.

It means that you're an expert - at least in a small area of expertise.

It means that you wrote a dissertation, supposedly adding to the sum of human knowledge.

It doesn't mean that you know everything, though many of my colleagues (and I'm sure yours) seem to think so. Every been in a room full of PhDs? (I'm thinking about faculty senate or a department meeting) We all seem to think that we're experts in everything.

Of course, I am an expert in everything... ;-)