Honestly, I think the whole "Jill Biden is not a Doctor!" is just as ridiculous as claiming Sebastian Gorka is not a Doctor. Yes, they are both doctors, both have PH.D's. Yes, neither one is a *medical doctor*--their respective credentials are in other fields--and this I think may be one of the reasons medical doctors have "Dr. John Smith, M.D." after their names. After reading some of these articles about medical commissions, newspaper editing standards in Canada, whatever, claiming to not call PH.D's "Doctor" and hospitals making particular distinctions about staff--*shrugs* I don't know. Maybe I'm wrong, though at my university, students, administrators, and faculty alike routinely made references to "Yes, this Philosophy class is taught by Dr. Robert Smith" ...
So much of this just seems petty to me. People that have PH.D's have attended school for 8 years or more, and have earned respect for their work. They are no less educated than a medical doctor, though have focused their academic efforts and expertise on a different field other than medicine. I think that both Dr. Jill Biden and Dr. Sebastian Gorka would likely agree with me.
Thanks, SHARK. I think like many things in English, the usage of the "Dr." honorific is inconsistent in practice. Some people with doctoral degrees use it, some don't. It's just one of those things. I can see someone arguing that we should move more towards consistency -- but that shouldn't be by attacking people like Dr. Biden or Dr. Gorka. They're justified in using it, because there are a lot of people who do use it that way.
I agree it's a petty thing to argue over, rather than the substance of political positions.
(For disclosure: I have a PhD in physics. I rarely use the title, but if I do use it, I would get annoyed at someone who called me out for doing so, since it is correct.)
Greetings!
You're welcome, Jhkim. I believe it is important to be consistent, as well as fair. I also think that holding onto a proper and healthy respect for a meritocracy, and for, well, our education system and structure is important and worthwhile. Now, having said that, I am fully aware that there are some people that have PH.D's that are mind-boggling morons. And yes, while our educational standards and processes have definitely weakened and eroded over the years, that doesn't mean that we should abandon our traditional hmmm...in the Marine Corps we had a term that I think applies well--our traditional customs and courtesies. I had some professors in college that I disagreed with--and a few I thought were fucking jello-brained, Marxist morons. That is from their political philosophy and ideology, though. From a professional, academic standpoint, even most of the professors that I thought were ideological idiots, or just mushy-minded, soft, and weak--when it comes to their particular academic discipline, whether it was History, or English, or Philosophy, or Political Science, they knew their stuff. I think anyone that actually genuinely does the academic work, and earns various degrees, whether Bachelor's, Masters, or Doctorates--or JD's for the lawyers here--have worked hard and accomplished something worthwhile and meaningful.
I had an English professor--she had a PH.D in English Literature, and I think her Masters was in Education or something obscure like that--she was Liberal. She was mushy-minded, and I thought she clearly had a logical disconnect in how she interpreted information, history, and political stuff. I
LOATHED her views on politics, economics, or collectivism--but she was otherwise a sweetheart. She loved cooking, and food. She loved reading, writing, and literature, she loved learning, and she loved teaching and helping *YOU* learn, grow, and succeed. She introduced me to more skills in writing, reading interpretation, poetry, structure, characterization, all the good literature stuff. Honestly, and perhaps many here would think paradoxically--she was one of my most favourite professors and instructors. She was always positive, cheerful and encouraging. She always made time to go over your work, analyze your writing or whatever books we were reading, repeat herself however much you needed to "Get it", and she was always just such a joy to have lunch with, hang out together, and learn. She was fun, kind, helpful, and even inspiring. She was Indian, from New Delhi, India, as I recall, and had that characteristic accent that Indians have. She was often regaling us with stories of her childhood, and cooking food with her grandmother. She would have us begin every class with little periods of breathing and meditation. *Laughing*. She often dressed in a brightly coloured Sari, and was always smiling and laughing. She is a sweet and wonderful person, and an excellent professor.
I should also note, however, despite her being very Liberal, mushy-minded, and collectivistic--as well as idealistic and I would say naïve about many aspects of human nature and political reality--her constant belief in goodness, in being generous and kind, her insistence on being positive and relentlessly joyful and thankful--was inspiring and contagious. She was always so engaging and eager to discuss anything with her students. And yet, as I mentioned of her nature, unlike so many of the Liberals nowadays--this sweet woman would never insult you, or even deride your views, she would simply acknowledge that you held a "right wing perspective". She would disagree with you, she would debate and discuss all kinds of issues and problems--while also remaining humble herself. She was never arrogant or condescending. She would champion her own Liberal views not with some absurd sense of smug certainty that she was absolutely correct--or that you were wrong and a hateful, warmongering beast, all the while entertaining flaws in both Left-wing ideas or policies. She always centered her philosophy though on this dogged conviction that we should always be good, embrace excellence, integrity, and virtues, and implement policies that demonstrated trust and love and faith in people. Arrrggg. *Laughing* As I mentioned, she was quite idealistic, but her unwavering joy and constant sweet nature made her a difficult person to debate with. It was like, she always made you feel like you *wanted* to agree with her, and that you *should* agree with her. Ever know someone like that? She and I would be talking about Feminism for God's sake, maybe with some other students, and some new girl or a fellow professor would come over and join in, and she would introduce me to them, chirping that "This is Mr. SHARK, such a wonderful man and a brilliant student. He's very traditional in his views of relationships between men and women, though!--as she smiled and held my shoulder. I mean, damn, that was the worst way she would describe you, or anyone or whatever that held a different viewpoint than herself about Feminism or whatever it was we were discussing. She somehow acknowledged that while you and she may disagree on some issue, or the best ways to approach problem "X"--YOU were always assumed to be intelligent, gracious, dignified, and someone she deeply respected. How could you not want to hang out with a woman like her?
I think, well, ok, she isn't a medical doctor, and she doesn't have a degree in some uber science, but she does have a PH.D. The woman deserves respect. Maybe I'm conflating my knowledge of her personally and the personal relationship I enjoyed with her, with her degree, I admit that's possible. Maybe I'm just bristling at some of the uber hard-science snobbery that many people like to make at the Humanities expense--and yes, I KNOW their are morons with degrees in "Gender Studies" and basket weaving, and are absolutely fucking morons. I've seen plenty of that, too, you can be certain. However, I have had the honor and pleasure and good fortune to know many people that have degrees in Humanities--History, English, Philosophy, Political Science, for example, that are not only very well educated and knowledgeable, but also outstanding and wonderful people.
I don't know Dr. Jill Biden, and I hate her politics. But the whole lets jump up and down about her degree, or where she got it, arrgghh. Petty is right. It makes me feel dirty and small-minded. I feel the same way about slugs that try to do the same hit-job on Dr. Sebastian Gorka. That's a game we can all play, endlessly deriding and critiquing where person X got their degree, or what they got their degree in, and the end result being the only people you end up having respect for are people that happen to agree with you politically--and what their degree is in, or what school they got it from, is ultimately irrelevant. I just think going down that road just opens up yet another aspect or component of our lives that we just *must* politicize and bring into the gladiator's arena. I think it is a form of character assassination, though, calling back to that philosophy logic thing where you poison the well or what have you, as I recall. I don't think it is a helpful approach, and it feels unfairly demeaning and mean-spirited.
Semper Fidelis,
SHARK