There are about 12 drafts or so of my thesis. Only two were bound. The one on 15 September, and the one on 6 October. On 6 October there is are two drafts which are indeed relatively different that can stand as two different papers.
I saw my capability. That I can write two different thesis within a day! After freezing the first copy of the day, I decided to follow and correct the mistakes he wanted me to correct. Too bad I realised this two late. Even when my mum had told me earlier that I should do this, I did not realise that I had to make correction as he goes through the thesis and points out the errors.
It's even today, 18th May, 2011 that I have seen it all the way it was. My perception of "there is something wrong in your thesis. Correct it." Meant that the content was wrong. So painstakingly changed the whole thesis and submitted it again. To which he says again, there is something wrong.
I thought, what if all this time all he wanted was to correct the misplaced comma on the first page. And while I was correcting the rest of the thesis, the content he saw was that of the last copy. Which had nothing of what I wanted to say really but the conclusion seem to be the most important word in it having moved this way and that of the knowledge I thought was wrong or right according to the Professors need to have it corrected.
So criticising the comma at the beginning, ignored the most important information which should have been seen first. It would been better if I was told the exact comma I was to correct.
But I would not have researched deeper about what I wrote if the comma had been corrected earlier.
Now my concern about criticising the trivial is: the perfection that comes is difficult to out do. All that comes next is boring.
They decided to down grade the Master of Science in Information Theory, Cryptography and Coding Theory to Master of Science in Coding Theory. Instead of offering to Engineering, Computer Science and Mathematics students, they offer it as a continuation program for mathematics majors for the Bachelor of Education Science at Mzuzu University. They are now planning to introduce a Phd in Information Theory, Cryptography and Coding which the rest of us can redo. I am wondering however if the content will be challenging enough for me having being mistaken for Phd. Graduate already?
Maybe its time I set foot on a foreign land for my Phd.
There are things that are difficult in one's field if they like a certain skill set. There are things that become equally easy for people who have a certain skill set.
These mathematicians seem to lack programming skills that is why their work becomes difficult. I saw the theses of students written before I saw I could reproduce their results independently with one piece of code. Just changing the code's parameters. Why should year after year have to rewrite the program and generate similar results for a thesis when they can be generated concurrently with on piece of code in one day and run as long as the computer is able to process them even yearly.
No wonder the girl scored distinction. She is a computer scientist (and a born genius of course).
Now I had this problem, from the results I had generated, I could say and give better explanations about the results the rest of theses were getting and I could write my whole thesis commenting on their theses where they are lacking where they are not. I noticed the results I put in my second controversial section where the codes Khumbo Kumwenda find. What would I write then in my thesis? For it would be taken as though I have copied their content for my thesis. Too little new to write about.
The only problem there was the confusing definition of non-trivial automorphism groups of Goppa codes. With that set right, these coding theorists would find their own way forward. Plus they needed a peace of code to work with. That's a bonus my thesis carried.
So that's it! And a Professor in Italy mistook me for a Phd. Graduate. He knew of course I had now graduated. He address me:
Dear Dr. Hara,
And blah, blah, here...
It felt good! Maybe I should keep the title. What does the world think?
After all I have an unofficial Phd. In all sorts of things. I have been waiting for wikiversity.org to start certifying their scholars so I can get my Doctorates.