Definition 8.14: The π-shaped person

Modern engineering graduate schools are systematically not designed to allow students to grow into π-shaped persons.

This is because the environment does not allow students to engage in π-shaped research, nor is there a system that encourages them to do so.

Even if a student enters with both disciplinary expertise and domain expertise, they may not have the opportunity to look at their research through an aesthetic lens that bridges these two, or they may not even be aware of the existence of such an aesthetic lens.

This is because the system of modern engineering graduate schools is designed to focus students' entire attention on finding and researching things that have not yet been done by other scholars or in the industry (calling this 'novelty'). The graduate school imposes a situation where students must conduct their research in this way. And the student, with their graduation at stake, has no choice but to comply with this situation.

On the one hand, one might say that the degree system of modern engineering graduate schools has played a tremendous role in advancing human science and technology. I agree that human scientific civilization would not have advanced to this extent in the 20th and 21st centuries just on the motive of 'pure academic curiosity' of humanity. Of course, there is a spectrum among individuals, but I think that 'finding and doing only what others have not done' is not the average nature of humans. On the contrary, I think it is more natural for humans to imitate what others do and settle comfortably.

But the problem is that the current system of graduate schools has been "too effective" in driving the advancement of science and technology in that way, to the point where the development of science and technology is far outpacing human wisdom and ethics.

I don't think anyone intentionally designed graduate schools this way. It's not that it was intentionally designed this way, but that it has ended up like this today. Various factors, such as the financial operation of universities, the relationship established between universities and industry during the 20th and 21st centuries, and several problems with the academic publication system today, have all interacted in complex ways, and in the midst of this, engineering graduate schools have evolved to their current equilibrium state.

Especially, the AI/ML academic community is the best example of this. Looking at the AI/ML academic community, it seems too chaotic and obsessed, like an elevator about to explode with too many busy people packed in it. Although each person in the commnunity is great, but the system is literally in a state of oversaturation. And this problem has been already mentioned by insiders multiple times.

From a student's perspective, looking at one's research through an aesthetic lens does not help in publishing one more paper, and it does not help with graduation. And students do not have spare time and mental processing to spend on aesthetic contemplation that does not help their graduation. They have to devote their time to finding what others have not done yet.

I have no solution to this situation.

I am just very grateful for this Music 256a course, which provided a framework for thinking about the research I want to do in the future, by looking through an aesthetic lens while spending 8 weeks of my graduate course reading and reflecting on each chapter of this book called 'Artful Design' every week.

The reason why 'Artful Design' is a brilliant book is that it makes readers think even beyond what is written in the book from their own perspective.