re: WSJ piece about Jill Biden gets author cancelled from Northwestern

The pastor at our church just got his doctorate, but we still just call him by his first name. He rarely mentions he has a doctorate.

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Well considering that piece was written in the same style as almost any other article these days commentating on people/situations

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Well stylistically, it meandered through random personal details, and didn’t settle on a point til the third or fourth paragraph. It was poorly written even in comparison to other Op-Eds. He even starts commenting on honorary doctorates, as though anyone calls someone with an honorary doctorate “doctor.” If the person was not named “Biden” I would still say the same.

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I don't see how this one can be so bad, unless you really don't appreciate his opinion on Jill Biden

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It was poorly written and stupid, and I would generally agree that people shouldn’t refer to themselves as doctors outside of professional environments. Did you read the piece in question?

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As for the erosion of the reputation of PhD, and the likes, in America in current times, I would suggest that basically every degree is seeing erosion in standards and perception.

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This has not been my experience. I work with some incredible people in a variety of disciplines. At research universities, your working with some incredibly talented people who have been incredibly committed to their field. Given that I’m in two disciplines relevant to the question at hand, I’m going to have to take my experience over his (and your) insistence.

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Given that I’m in two disciplines relevant to the question at hand, I’m going to have to take my experience over his (and your) insistence.

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Why am I not surprised. The great learned master's student knows all, and any "op-ed" stating an opinion to the contrary is downright "wrong."

This is a ridiculous take though. I feel like most people who have a doctorate go by Dr.
she has a doctorate and has every right to go by Dr. Biden

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Why am I not surprised. The great learned master's student knows all, and any "op-ed" stating an opinion to the contrary is downright "wrong."

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I can only proportion belief to the evidence on hand, and the author nor you have offered any. I have more experience than the author seems to in modern PhD programs, and I’m simply saying that his assertion doesn’t reflect my experience. And I didn’t say he was wrong, I said that in the absence of actual evidence, I’d have to rely on my own experience, as you would rely on yours. You seem very fond of suggesting I’m saying things that I didn’t say.

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Well I'm not particularly fond of your anecdotal tidbits being proffered as hardened evidence.

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Who first brought up those tidbits, me or the author? If he has his anecdotes, why can’t I share mine that contradict his notion? I would have never brought it up save for you reading into my first post something I never even insinuated.

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its an opinion piece and just because you're are in a doctorate program (of any kind) for a degree does not mean that you are privy to every aspect of that segment of the educational sector, nor the collective perception of such degrees. It's the author's opinion, your opinion, my opinion, everyones got an opinion

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And I gave my opinion of it. And I have plenty of experience in academia, so if someone proffered an opinion that I don’t think is true, I’m going to say that I don’t think it is true, because even though everyone has an opinion, not all opinions are “true” just by virtue of having them. People can be wrong.

There might be a perception issue too, but I would actually argue that humanities degrees in particular have gotten harder, with foreign language requirements that are often beyond the scope of the research period, or not even relevant to the degree. Those requirements are precisely because these programs have to continually justify themselves to people. Though my program is a “hard” science, I have to learn advanced statistics, R, Python and a foreign language, as well as relevant archeological and historical work, for a project on genetics. This is in addition to my MD coursework. I don’t see any erosion in standards, honestly. The author can write these things off, but there is still a truth out there, and if his opinion doesn’t reflect truth, then what?

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I mean what would Gandhi think of something like that?

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Gandhi organized mass boycotts of British goods that eventually lead to boycotts of Raj-run educational institutions, courts, and government service in general. He’s probably the best example of putting “cancelling” into action, as the Noncooperation movement inspired mass direct action in the latter half of the 20th century. I would suggest that Gandhi would use cancellation if it aligned with his political goals.

As for me, I don’t care about cancellation, but the opinion was stupid, and I’m going to say that. You can read whatever into it that you like.

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This is a ridiculous take though. I feel like most people who have a doctorate go by Dr.

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I have a PhD and I am a college professor. I would never ask anyone other than a student to call me Dr, and none of my colleagues would either.

So you see the lunacy of calling an opinion wrong because you hold a contrary opinion. How can an opinion be wrong, they are are opinions, they can be built on erroneous information/data/interpretation but its merely an individual's personal belief on a subject; which makes "opinions," by their very nature, subjective. But to presuppose that your anecdotal experiences, which created your opinion, during your time in school actually has the ability to prove or disprove the validity of the author's opinion is rather preposterous. The Gandhi part was pure sarcasm, since he is considered by some as a champion of human rights. Although, there are many people who regard Gandhi as a racist, so he is likely to be cancelled himself, as some are currently trying to do. FWIW

It's going to get him some nasty responses but he's right. I wouldn't address someone with a PhD (in a non medical field) as doctor in a social situation. It may have meant this or that at one time, but in today's English, "doctor" is synonymous with physician. If my wife had a PhD I wouldn't go around telling people she's a doctor.