committee

we're supposed to meet once a semester starting from this one so that all involved know that i'm on the right track and not spending my time learning llama herding or getting fluent in pirahã. to clarify, the committee i have now is different than the one with which i defended my masters' thesis. most notably, i got to choose the people on it, and so no longer have the gorgon lady but three reasonably nice and very intelligent people. aside from my advisor, who doth bestride the narrow world like a colossus, i have someone who's more a psychology type, and someone who's more a neuroscience type, thus balance to the force etc. we had a very civil meeting, where i got to speak without interruption for a good long while before getting comments on how my stats were wrong (my stats are mostly wrong). still, i was let down gently, which was appreciated, and scary remarks were made to the effect that i could try and graduate in 4 years, to which my reply was 'are you $%#^ing out of your mind?' you get lucky with one set of results. expectations must be moderated; this semester was like a punch to the kidneys, not an experience worth repeating if at all possible, and i know i say this all the time, but it's time to slow things up.