When she put her questions to her professors, they assured her that insight would come at the next level of study. So she enrolled for the next level – a Master’s degree at the prestigious London School of Economics – and waited for that insight to come. Instead, the abstract theories intensified, the equations multiplied, and Yuan grew more dissatisfied. But with exams on the horizon, she faced a choice. ‘At some point,’ she told me, ‘I realised that I just had to master this material, rather than trying to question everything. And I think that’s a sad moment to have as a student.’ Many
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