[Taxacom] Honorifics for M.A.s

[Dan Bickel]

Why do we we need honorifics anyway?  They merely serve as masks for people to hide behind.
I have met plenty of people with PhDs who are idiots and fools - university campuses are full of them.

Almost any one with half a brain can grind a way and get a PhD - big deal!  Don't let this serve as a cover for the real person. There is an old saying, "The bigger the front, the bigger the behind".

Did Socrates have a B.A. in philosophy,  Galileo a M.S. in physics or Leonardo da Vinci a M.A. in Fine Arts? And what about Charles Darwin ?
So Freeman Dyson didn't have a Ph.D. - so what?  Einstein worked as a patents clerk in Bern while he was developing his theory of special relativity.

To introduce a speaker at a lecture, simply say,   "I would like to introduce John Doe, whose lecture is entitled,  'On the superficiality of academic  titles and honorifics'




Daniel J. Bickel
Entomology, Australian Museum,  1 William Street Sydney NSW 2010 Australia
T 61 2 9320 6347   F 61 2 9320 6011

____________________________________________
On Sun, 5/3/17, Richard Zander <Richard.Zander at mobot.org<mailto:Richard.Zander at mobot.org>> wrote:

Subject: [Taxacom] Honorifics for M.A.s
To: "Taxacom(taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu<mailto:taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>}" <taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu<mailto:taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>>
Received: Sunday, 5 March, 2017, 9:43 AM

 I remember going to a lecture by Freeman Dyson and the guy  whointroduced him went on and on about him not having a  Ph.D. but he was AOK anyway.  Embarrassing. There are  several highly productive researchers here who only have  M.A. degrees, and Mr. or Ms. seems pedestrian. I recommend  that a term be devised and used as an honorific for such  people. I suggest the term "Magister." Kind of high-falutin  but apparently cognate with a "Masters" degree, see  Wikipedia.

 -------
Richard H. Zander
Missouri Botanical Garden - 4344 Shaw Blvd. - St. Louis -  Missouri - 63110 - USA  richard.zander at mobot.org<mailto:richard.zander at mobot.org<mailto:richard.zander at mobot.org%3cmailto:richard.zander at mobot.org>>
Web sites: http://www.mobot.org/plantscience/bfna/bfnamenu.htm and  http://www.mobot.org/plantscience/resbot/
 _______________________________________________
















































































































        Click here to read the Australian Museum email disclaimer:  The Australian Museum email disclaimer: