Darren was going to school to become a doctor. I was still working on my Ph.D. Someone was saying something about the medical degree having more prestige or being more valuable than the Ph.D. I stated my usual case that I agree that the medical degree is indeed very valuable to society. We certainly need good doctors and good doctors perform a great service to society. However, they also get paid very well for it and it does not require the same mental capabilities as a Ph.D. People who study for a Ph.D. are not easily recognized for their value to society, though a good Ph.D. brings great value. And they do it knowing they will likely never receive the same financial rewards as a medical doctor nor be given the same respect. In addition, the Ph.D. is by far a more difficult degree to earn mentally because it does not require the memorization of known information or already identified knowledge but instead requires the discovery of new knowledge. A M.D. can get their degree by getting certain grades and fulfilling certain tasks such as residency. A Ph.D., on the other hand, can get stellar grades, complete all requirements and still not receive their Ph.D. if a panel of judges does not approve the final dissertation work based on the dissertation defense - the final step of the Ph.D. process. I don't know who I was telling all of this to.