I spend a lot of time around people in similar situations as myself, as figures being part of a university, and get to hear about all sorts of PhD topics with the most diverse titles. Sometimes I find myself thinking that some of the projects are, well I wouldn't say pointless, but somewhat useless. Does anyone else ever get that when they hear other project titles? I don't think that I'm snobbish really it's just that I thought that a PhD was supposed to contribute something to the world. A lot of these topics appear narrow and sometimes so abstract it seems to me that the only contribution that they can make is to the person doing the research. Is it a good enough reason to do some research just to say that it's been done?

Doing a humanities PhD, I get that sort of comments most of the time (about our research topics not being useful). Humanities project don't probably have the practical, immediate application of sciences/ social sciences ones (you are not going to cure anyone's cancer by researching medieval literature are you?) but I guess our research allows us to understand our civilisation, our current issues and our current way of thinking in some way. At least I hope so.

I've met a couple in their late 20s, both doing quite pointless PhDs in my view. One is philosophy and other is theatre related (I can't remember the full titles but you would simply answer "so what" or "yes" to the research questions). They are self funded, and their attitude was "it's my money, I'll research what I want".

By the way, I don't mean to say philosophy or theatre is pointless. This two particular ones were.

sometimes I have a little crisis & wonder if what I am doing is a bit pointless......

me too. That's why it's good to see some really pointless ones.

Depends what you mean by pointless.
Are you gonna change the world? Nope.
Will anyone ever read the thesis except for the examiners? I've been told no.
But, at one point even if you can't remember now, you must have been sufficiently interested in your subject to want to dedicate a miminum of 3 years of extremely hard work to doing a PhD and finding out more about it.
Maybe thats the point?

I know my topic isn't really going to change the world or have a practical utility. BUT I think my project is intellectually stimulating and valuable in and of itself. I know that even if I get one or two papers out of it, and if these communicate my interest in the field then I will have done well. At the end of the day, my PhD is my own and has its own intrinsic worth to me - and whilst I need it for a career and it should have some wider appeal, ultimately it is a topic which enthralls me. Early modern Animals aren't for eevrybody and that is okay with me.

Fair enough.

I think it's a good point to talk about the personal value of a PhD. But how on earth did you find this particular topic? Did you have a prior interest in elephants or did some professor offer you the project?

The elephant is just one animal I am using in the thesis. And if anything the thesis is about people as much as animals. I developed this particular case study myself when I wanted to write a paper on a cultural history of an animal... I chose a big animal whose arrival in Britain would not have gone unnoticed - and then started finding really interesting and beautiful anatomies of these animals.

I'm sorry I blasted you a little on the other thread!