Ask HN: Will getting a PhD lead to a more interesting life?
I'm at the end of my MSc. studies in CS. At the moment, I can choose to graduate in a month or two, or stay-on for another 9 months doing research in interactive theorem proving that will potentially lead to a PhD opportunity.
I'm doing my MSc in a foreign country and I'm very unhappy here. Another ~9 months seems like a huge hurdle to me. The current situation is if I choose to graduate soon, I will likely surrender my chance for a PhD.
I don't particularly love studying. I think interactive theorem proving is quite cool, but the actual practice of studying/research hasn't been that enjoyable to me, but I enjoy having the knowledge once I've acquired it. In many ways it seems like "the future" to me, and it'd be really neat to be one of the first passengers on that train, so to say.
I have no desire to become a professor/researcher. After I acquire my PhD, I surmise that I would go to industry.
The issue here is one of bad information: I don't have industry experience and I don't really know how any of this stuff plays out. I'm worried that if I chose to forego the PhD, I'll really regret it in a number of years. I'm afraid I won't be able to find interesting work with just a MSc, and I'm really afraid of getting a boring software engineering gig.
I'm concerned that without the expertise/knowledge/academic maturity that I would gain from a PhD, I'll be stuck doing things that bore me after a number of years, with no room to grow to more interesting things. Equally concerning to me is that I think I'd likely be miserable during the PhD process. It seems very lonely, and I don't find much enjoyment from, say, sitting in my office reading papers all day. I much prefer creating things. I also think I'm just not that bright and that a PhD would be a huge intellectual challenge for me. I'm also absolutely sick of living like a student with little financial freedom.
Does anyone have any guiding advice?