I have noticed that the commenters and retweeters on Twitter whose title "MD" is part of their screen name are invariably jerks. I will note in contrast on my sites that Bird Dog and Mike Kennedy don't do that. That "I'm a doctor" voice on political matters, Bible study, and cultural affairs is unwarranted.
Back when we still worked in offices, you couldn't lob a brick down the hall without conking a couple of PhD's or soon-to-be's. Nobody called anybody "Doctor," and outside of work I didn't know anybody who assumed the title. I've had to haul it out a few times when somebody started talking nonsense about statistics but as a rule I leave it lay. People tend to either defer unreasonably to the title or get their backs up about the establishment.
ReplyDeleteRecall that Jill Biden appears to insist on being addressed as Dr. Jill Biden. Her doctorate is in Education, which is the field where dissertation topics are much more likely to be stories instead being research that can be replicated. Anyone with a doctorate in Education who insists on being addressed as "Doctor" is a certifiable fool.
ReplyDeleteIn general this rule holds for anyone who puts "Dr." or "... , Ph.D." in their Twitter handle.
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