I agree with all of your comment except this. Peer review and any formal standard of research is missing from this persons work. Their work stands alone in that regard. That’s not necessarily better or worse, but it is different.
The PhD dissertation is about externally validated novelty and significance. I know people who spent 6-7 years doing masters level work and weren’t allowed to pass their PhD defense. So doing research != PhD.
I agree with all of your comment except this. Peer review and any formal standard of research is missing from this persons work. Their work stands alone in that regard. That’s not necessarily better or worse, but it is different.
The PhD dissertation is about externally validated novelty and significance. I know people who spent 6-7 years doing masters level work and weren’t allowed to pass their PhD defense. So doing research != PhD.