Self Taught----can You Call Yourself By A Title?

[AeroMike]

Okay, while reading an article the other day it stated the gentleman was "self taught" and called him a paleontologist.

I got to thinking, even with all the 'self teaching" can someone claim a title? Now I know there are a few out there that do not have a degree but in fact are a lot more knowledgeable in areas over some that hold degrees in the same areas, but does this allow you to claim a title? Does merely going through the motions of college classes and completing the required level of education give you the only way to claim a title? I know there are some who can do the required curriculum but have no business being in the profession they are in.

For example, I hold three degrees, two are of engineering and the third is science based, I can be called an aerospace engineer because I have all the required documentation form colleges and universities transcripts and diplomas. Now let's say I never went to college or maybe I did but never finished. I really liked the area of interest and studied information I could absorb on the subject. Even though I am just as knowledgeable as a "titled" person does this give me the right to be recognized by the same title?

I personally do not think a person can and should be recognized in certain areas while it would be acceptable in others. For example, I am not a dentist and never went to school for dentistry but I like it (not really silly, LOL I am using this as an example )and I study everything I can find out on dentistry. I study for years but I can not be called a Dentist. Same would go for anything that would require a license or registration.

Another example would be more of someone gaining knowledge of, say a hobby. I know of a person on here whom I had the pleasure to hunt with. He is very, very knowledgeable. When I say he knows his teeth, I mean he knows it. Here would be a good example of us in a creek;

Me: "Hey! check out this sweet tooth here!"

Him: "Mike, that is a really nice Carcharocles Angustidens. Looks to be a lower lateral, most likely a second row tooth because of the curvature"

LOL now let me put his words into my "layman’s" filter, "Mike, that is a sweet a$$ tooth. I bet that shark was so freakin huge man !!! and imagine getting bit by this monster, you'd even feel teeth in the other rows too. It wouldn't even matter where in the mouth this sucker came from, it is one sweet tooth!!!"

So for a person who has a hobby, they are more generally interested in finding out all they can about the hobby. But if that hobby shares a professional title, or at least a professional that would hold a title in an area that laterals said hobby can the hobbyist call him/herself by the same title?

I digress, and will get off the soapbox now. I just wanted to hear your thoughts on this and I need to go order my new business cards with my fresh new titles on it, LOL

[tracer]

no, i believe a person has no claim to a misleading title as a result of independent work or study, or even a diploma mill correspondence degree. the relative anonymity of our times has allowed quite a bit of outrageous self-elevation. and the term "expert" is offensively arrogant in our modern information age in which the exponential increase in access to information should have humbled everyone who thought they knew it all back when it was less obvious that they didn't.

it is misleading, and in some cases quite illegal, to use titles one is not entitled to (pun intended). no one should feel such a sense of entitlement (there it is again). it's even quite wrong to give oneself a cool nickname. if you're called "spike" or "butch" or "lefty" or "scrap iron", then you should have earned it and been graced with it by a group of admiring peers (hey, isn't "peer" a title?)

i am aware of one guy who came up with a resolution to the question you pose by dubbing those kinds of people "rki"s, which stood for "reasonably knowledgeable individuals". but to me, that still doesn't quite convey the true picture. the people whose thoughts i most value are those who know a lot, who also know what they don't know, and who accurately convey to me both what they think and the relative degree of certainty regarding their thoughts. i don't need to get up to go outside and look if these people say what's going on out there.

i like the concept that doctors "practice" medicine, which should be a constant reminder that we're all just practicing whatever we do and hopefully never rest on our laurels and stop moving forward in knowledge and experience. i consider myself a student of many things, and an expert on nothing. but i do feel like i earned my nickname of forum fool.

p.s. - fake names in clubs are ok, because everyone knows you're lying anyway.

p.p.s. - you are allowed to temporarily adopt whatever title you think might help if she's really that hot.

p.p.p.s. - see, i told you i earned that nickname.

[tracer]

hey, just so i can be the one who first violates my sense of propriety regarding the above, i got two suggestions.

first, people who've risen to exalted levels independently could be called "philosophers". i say that because "philosophy" means "love of wisdom" (maybe. look it up to be sure. <giggle>). i also say they could be called philosophers because i've always sort of felt philosophers can be pretty full of snarge and build some real houses of cards with their thoughts, so it won't hurt to have tons more philosophers running around.

my second idea was to just create a new name, and "frid"s seemed good. stands for "fairly reliable information disseminators".

try it - on a field trip - "hey, can i get a frid over here right away?" at a meet and greet - "hi, i'd like you to meet my friend fred franks the frid."

when a frid makes an error, it could be called a "fridean slip".

it works.

[RJB]

From now on I want to be called:

Dr. RB, Fossil Engineer and sometimes philosipher around the campfire. Im not sure where to put Mr. in all that?

[Guest Nicholas]

I'll go with Dr. Prof. Mr. Nicholas Slade of Paleo-Anthropology and subgroups the third esquire....

Signing checks will suck for sure.

[Uncle Siphuncle]

So can I call myself Village Idiot??? I'm entirely self taught.....

P.S. I'm also an engineer - so is it right for the guy sweeping up garbage to be called a Sanitation Engineer???

[Frank Menser]

It's kind of a sticky wicket because titles can come from different sources sometimes even requiring sub-titles

Amateur, professional or Degreed.

For example: I have studied and worked with reptiles for over 30 years. I do not have a degree in Herpetology, yet I have held two professional positions, one in a zoo, the other a museum where that title was on my job description. If pressed, I generally refer to my self as a "Lay" (layman) Herpetologist.

As far as Paleo goes, I have been involved in it since a child, but never formally studied or even worked in that area...no title here.

[Auspex]

I freely claim to be "into paleoornithology"; is that too oblique a disclaimer of professional status?

While I am proud of my small collection (and of the informal knowledge gleaned from it), I hope that noone ever gets the idea that I take myself that seriously about it.

[jkfoam]

Titles, I think, are best bestowed on one by others. If the city is paying me to sweep up garbage and they want to call me a Sanitation Engineer then I am a Sanitation Engineer. For myself, I think I would call me a Street Sweeper.

I aspire to be a decent amateur cenozoic malacologist but at best I think all I have done is collect a few old snails.

JKFoam

[JohnJ]

I aspire to be a decent amateur cenozoic malacologist but at best I think all I have done is collect a few old snails.

JKFoam

I hear you man....

[megateeth]

Can I be The High Lord Emperor of River Diving?

(I know there are better here but I thought of the title first!!! )

[tracer]

Can I be The High Lord Emperor of River Diving?

(I know there are better here but I thought of the title first!!! )

um, yes, mi HLERD!

(p.s. - always test the acronym before giving yourself a title.)

but seriously, look, big titles are usually given to people instead of money. it's cheaper. we can only pay you this much, but your title will be "grand poobah penultimate in charge of extraneous randomizations".

"ok, i'll take it. can i get double-wide business cards with that on them? good deal!"

this is America, where people came to get away from class and rank and status issues. so what we do here is try to get so much better and richer and more important than everybody else that we can not only not have a title, but can be called by just one name, maybe with a "the" in front of it at most. when you've arrived, you only need a one-word name, because everyone knows who you are.

that's why you should be careful what name you give someone - which is why mrs. tracer and i named tj siegfried.