[net.poems] Reflections on Thesis Advisors

russ@orstcs (06/25/86)

If you have a question and he can't answer it,
     then it is irrelevant.
If you have a question and he can answer it,
     then it is trivial and he won't tell you the answer.
If you prove his conjecture correct,
     then you have merely proved the obvious.
If you prove his conjecture false,
     then you have missed the point
     and haven't gotten any real work done.
If you've merely spent days without proof or disproof of his conjecture,
     then you must have been goofing off.
If you pursue any other topics, questions, or your own conjectures,
     then you are not serious about getting finished.