Me as a PhD Discussant

So today was the day of the Full Draft Dissertation Seminar of a guy was already a PhD when I was a master's student at ISS. I was a bit nervous too, since this was my first time commenting on someone else's PhD thesis. Aware that I had been drafted on the implicit understanding that I would not cause too much trouble, I made sure that I wasn't too critical while at the same time offering meaningful comments.  At this stage, I thought there is little point in finding fundamental problems with someone's work. My job is to offer comments to make it acceptable, so I held back, Having recently defended my PhD, I am aware how much one is at the mercy of the examiners. I have also realised that PhD theses are full of holes, and if one is zealous about finding them, there is no end to them. And its easy to shatter the fragile confidence of a final-stage PhD student.

I needn't have worried about being too critical. I was, by far, the nicest discussant. Some of the others just let rip at him, and I felt bad for him. Imagine thinking you are at the end of a long journey and being told by one discussant that you still have a long way to go, and by other that you are on the wrong path. I remember how I felt back in the summer of 2021 after I had submitted my full draft to my supervisor, and was told that it would still require a good amount of work. The other discussants either had finished their PhDs long ago, or had not yet finished their PhDs so maybe they could not empathize with him they way I could. Anyway, I did what I could.