talking to an author more insightful than reading the 200 page thesis
Only if he were an exceptionally bad writer. 200 pages contains a lot more information than you can fit into most conversations. Not to mention being more logically structured.
Of course, a conversation is more interactive and lets you ask about the things that were left unclear, as well as clear up misunderstandings… but I don’t think that anywhere near compensates.
What you could argue is that talking to the author is time more efficiently spent, as it gives you a better idea of whether her thesis is worth reading.
How can that be the case? You apparently have ‘exceptions’ forming most of the population!
More generally, being able to talk to the author after reading the thesis is hugely valuable, because whatever was unclear in the thesis can be cleared up. But talking to the author without reading his work is fairly worthless; you won’t know what questions to ask, unless of course you’re already knowledgeable in the field.
Only if he were an exceptionally bad writer. 200 pages contains a lot more information than you can fit into most conversations. Not to mention being more logically structured.
Of course, a conversation is more interactive and lets you ask about the things that were left unclear, as well as clear up misunderstandings… but I don’t think that anywhere near compensates.
What you could argue is that talking to the author is time more efficiently spent, as it gives you a better idea of whether her thesis is worth reading.
most people are exceptionally bad writers
How can that be the case? You apparently have ‘exceptions’ forming most of the population!
More generally, being able to talk to the author after reading the thesis is hugely valuable, because whatever was unclear in the thesis can be cleared up. But talking to the author without reading his work is fairly worthless; you won’t know what questions to ask, unless of course you’re already knowledgeable in the field.