Only
I’ll be fine in the viva so long as I’m not asked about Chapter 4… I can only talk about what I did, I don’t want to talk about hypotheticals… I’m happy to talk to my examiners but don’t want...
hypotheticals
Thought Experiments
I like thought experiments, both philosophically and in fiction. It can be fun to ask what if? and then follow that thinking to see what might happen next. It’s useful in the kind of work I do too, thinking through how...
Red Herrings
I love reading mystery stories. One of my favourite things is trying to figure out which clues are red herrings. What are the distractions? Which things don’t matter? What gets in the way of important things? It’s not always so...
If & Then
Hypothetical questions are a pain for PhD candidates thinking about their vivas. If. If this happens, I’ll be stuck. If that happens, I won’t know what to do. Except it’s not just if. There’s always a then. In worry, a...
The Problems
What will they ask? What will they think? What will they say? How long will it take? What corrections will I get? What if I freeze? What if I don’t know? What if they don’t like it? You can’t answer...
All The Ifs
Every hypothetical question and if that comes up in the viva has an answer. If you find a typo? Underline it. If you go blank? Pause and think. If you forget something? Wait and try to remember. If your examiners...
Hypotheticals
What if your examiners ask you a question and you go blank? What if you forget something? What if your examiners don’t agree on the outcome of the viva? What if you arrive late? What if you don’t know the...