Good Cop, Bad Cop
"Strike while the iron is hot," Shen Qi said. "No need, Director Long, let's move on to the next segment."
"Alright." The main examiner, Director Long, had prepared three questions and listed them in an outline.
In a defense session, the most important part is the question and answer session.
The rules are simple: the teacher asks questions, the students answer, and both sides engage in a friendly debate based on the paper's topic.
You answered correctly, you defended yourself well, here's your diploma, go have some fun.
I answered wrong, I failed the argument, I'll try again next year, bro.
The format of the question-and-answer session varies from school to school.
In some schools, the teacher first poses three questions at once, allowing the student to leave the room for ten to twenty minutes to prepare, organize their thoughts, and then return to answer.
Director Long's rule is to answer questions immediately.
Ask a question, Shen Qi must answer it on the spot; he is not allowed to leave to find inspiration outside.
"Shen Qi, please turn to pages 15 and 16. My first question is, please explain the Fisher-Bermeister function in detail. The explanation in the paper is too simplistic." Director Long posed the first question.
Fisher and Bomeister were both contemporary mathematicians active from the 1960s to the 1990s.
Now that the two gentlemen are quite old, they have retired to their hometown and withdrawn from public life.
Regardless of whether they are still active in the martial arts world, the names of these two old gentlemen will forever be known throughout the land.
Shen Qi used the Fisher-Bermeister function as a tool in his paper, mainly to connect the preceding and following sections and serve as a link between them.
It's just a transitional phase, a backup plan. Shen Qi didn't elaborate on the definition and proof of the Fisher-Bermeister function in the paper; instead, he directly used the conclusion.
The thesis submitted to the defense committee by Shen Qi was flawless, at least on the surface.
Shen Qi was confident that the three teachers could not refute his logical arguments and that there were no loopholes in the overall argument.
If the defense fails, the only reason is the details.
The question and answer session, to put it simply, is about finding fault.
The teachers raised questions about every little detail to examine the depth and breadth of the students' academic knowledge, their judgment and responsiveness, and the flexibility of their thinking.
You absolutely cannot be nervous at this crucial moment. Teachers often deliberately set traps, and timid people often scare themselves to death.
Of course, details are the hardest thing to deal with; details determine success or failure.
Before entering the room, Shen Qi had no idea what questions the examiners would ask, so he made multiple preparations and came up with various contingency plans.
Please explain the Fisher-Bermeister function in detail.
It's not difficult; we're already prepared.
After a moment's thought, Shen Qi replied, "The function is first-order semi-smooth. Based on this property, the problem on pages 15 and 16 can be rewritten as a non-smooth equation system. Director Long, would you like me to explain this non-smooth equation system in detail?"
Director Long waved his hand. "No need, just explain the main ideas."
"Okay, then I'll continue," Shen Qi continued. "If I were to expand on the Fisher-Bermeister function, I'd have to write at least 20 more pages in the paper, which would seem like padding. This paper isn't for math novices, so I can't possibly write 20 pages about the Fisher-Bermeister function."
"The introduction of the Fisher-Bermeister function outlines the initial concept of semi-smooth analysis. The Clark generalized Jacobi matrix is locally bounded and upper semi-continuous. Therefore, I directly use the conclusion of the Fisher-Bermeister function here, defining the set of all x belonging to Φ using Df, and finally solving the problem in the second part of the paper." Shen Qi paused for a few seconds to observe the expressions of the examiners.
"That's fine." Director Long nodded. The reason he asked this basic question was because he was worried that the respondent might plagiarize or simply apply what they didn't understand.
Some students, when pushed to the limit, will actually do just that: they'll find a paper, adapt it, submit it, and that's it.
Shen Qi answered the questions promptly and to the point.
Director Long expressed his satisfaction, and then raised the second and third questions, which were progressively more difficult.
Shen Qi answered fluently and commanded the entire room.
"That's enough."
"The explanation is reasonable."
Director Long's comments were just like his personality: calm, peaceful, and unassuming.
Shen Qi was a little embarrassed; wasn't the kind-looking Mathematics Department, Lao Longtou, too easy to talk to?
The main examiner has finished asking three questions. Does that mean I've passed?
Have I received my undergraduate diploma in the Mathematics Department from Yenching University?
"Director Long, shall we move on to the summary section now?" Shen Qi asked tentatively.
"Don't rush," Director Long with a kind smile, looking left and right. "Teacher Ma, Teacher Xiong, do you have any follow-up questions?"
"Let me go first." Teacher Ma had a stern, unsmiling face, and this was the first thing he said from the beginning.
"Shen Qi, please turn to page 4. I think your opening algorithm is flawed." This was Teacher Ma's second sentence, laced with menace.
Shen Qi smiled, but inwardly he felt much more at ease. He could tell that Director Long was playing the good cop and Teacher Ma was playing the bad cop.
That's right, that's the style of our Big Mathematics Department. Passing a thesis defense isn't that easy.
"Please give your comments, Teacher Ma," Shen Qi said politely.
"In the subproblem (Pk), Equation 3 should not be a local linear approximation of the quadratic model of the objective function at the point xk. It's a calculation error, a logical error!" Teacher Ma pointed out an error in the paper in a serious manner, an error he believed to be wrong.
"What?" Shen Qi quickly flipped through the paper. Teacher Ma had just unleashed a powerful move; how ruthless!
What went wrong?
How is my logic flawed?
The first few pages couldn't possibly be wrong; even that incredibly annoying reviewer agreed with the algorithm I presented at the beginning.
What does it mean if there's a logical error in the algorithm at the beginning?
This means that the paper was written in vain; the premises were all wrong, so what's the point of the subsequent discussion?
The room was completely silent during the defense.
Shen Qi was lost in thought.
The three professors watched Shen Qi stare blankly, waiting for his answer.
Time passed second by second.
Shen Qi remained in a daze.
"Shen Qi?" Teacher Ma reminded him.
"Oh." Shen Qi looked up and stared directly into Teacher Ma's eyes.
These eyes are neither too big nor too small, neither joyful nor angry, displaying wisdom and arrogance side by side, sincerity and deception dancing together.
That's right!
Teacher Ma is lying to me!
Logical trap!
The supplementary question raised by Teacher Ma is itself a paradox, a question for which there is no definitive answer.
Don't fall for Teacher Ma's tricks; if you go along with his rhythm, you're doomed.
You're clearly stirring up trouble, Lao Ma. Most people would be terrified by you.
Do the opposite.
After a brief period of panic and fear, Shen Qi quickly regained his composure and confidence.
What is the core of a thesis defense?
It is a debate.
The teacher's viewpoint may not be correct, and in this specific context, it may not be correct.
Students must quickly see through the teacher's tactics and make the most reasonable arguments.
The thesis defense that Shen Qi is currently undergoing not only tests the depth of his professional knowledge, but also comprehensively examines his judgment, insight, reaction speed, as well as a bit of stubbornness and persistence.
Being a college student these days isn't easy; comprehensive qualities are key, and well-rounded individuals have a higher survival rate.
"Teacher Ma, in the subproblem (Pk), there is actually no so-called algorithmic logic error, that's my opinion." Shen Qi already had a solution in mind, confident in his abilities and unyielding in his words: "If it existed, then that existence itself is non-existent."
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