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Ken Ham ... PhD

Honorary degrees have never made sense to me. I guess it's just recognition and/or an award, but then why call it a degree? Even serious universities do it, but ffs Bryan College doesn't even offer any doctoral programs at all and they're giving out a 'Doctor of Science' degree. /PhDRant
 
beero1000 said:
Honorary degrees have never made sense to me. I guess it's just recognition and/or an award, but then why call it a degree? Even serious universities do it, but ffs Bryan College doesn't even offer any doctoral programs at all and they're giving out a 'Doctor of Science' degree. /PhDRant
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Right? And there are some who will be gullible enough to think it's legit.

It would be illegal to claim an MD if you didn't have one, so phd, esp in science should be the same.

Hell, most of what Ken Ham does (I wrote that out cause I hear he has web bots to find his mentions) should be illegal in the name of science and truth.
 
What ever those qualifications may seem to mean to anyone. It does seem to have some effect .. perhaps a placebo like effect ... giving them at least an articulated confidence and ability to be quite able to debate with many well known leading opponents.
 
Learner said:
What ever those qualifications may seem to mean to anyone. It does seem to have some effect .. perhaps a placebo like effect ... giving them at least an articulated confidence and ability to be quite able to debate with many well known leading opponents.
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No, an honorary degree does not confer the ability to debate.
Or do you mean that by having credentials, he'll be taken seriously by actual scientists?
For a while now, scientists have been seeing that debating creationists is a serious case of diminishing returns. Every time Gish got trounced in debate, he'd still pop up again, somewhere else, spouting the same arguments and selling the same refuted pamphlets in the lobby.
Ham's arguments aren't going to get better because he can put letters behind his name.
 
Learner said:
What ever those qualifications may seem to mean to anyone. It does seem to have some effect .. perhaps a placebo like effect ... giving them at least an articulated confidence and ability to be quite able to debate with many well known leading opponents.
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Ken "Dumbo" Ham
 
beero1000 said:
Honorary degrees have never made sense to me. I guess it's just recognition and/or an award, but then why call it a degree? Even serious universities do it,
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Well, it makes sense to me. Similar to my job. my position as a training specialist for the military curricula based upon our weapon systems requires an education or engineering degree. But they accepted that 20 years of employment in the Navy, working on the weapon systems made by this company, is equivalent.

An honorary degree recognizes that rather than sitting in a classroom and doing the learning, you have done sufficient work in the real world to put you on a level with their students. You've had an impact on a subject, a discipline, a topic equal to that of their graduates and made the world a place where your contributions must be recognized.


but ffs Bryan College doesn't even offer any doctoral programs at all and they're giving out a 'Doctor of Science' degree.
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Well, yeah. They're saying that Hamface is JUST as good at science as any of their doctors WOULD be, if they had any doctoral programs.

I'd take it as a slap in the face, really. Kind of like if my old Submarine School handed out an honorary certification for a jet pilot, or if the Air Force Academy handed out a certification for carrier landings. It's a big 'kick me' sign on the back, but I'm sure it makes him feel special.
 
Keith&Co. said:
Well, it makes sense to me. Similar to my job. my position as a training specialist for the military curricula based upon our weapon systems requires an education or engineering degree. But they accepted that 20 years of employment in the Navy, working on the weapon systems made by this company, is equivalent.

An honorary degree recognizes that rather than sitting in a classroom and doing the learning, you have done sufficient work in the real world to put you on a level with their students. You've had an impact on a subject, a discipline, a topic equal to that of their graduates and made the world a place where your contributions must be recognized.


but ffs Bryan College doesn't even offer any doctoral programs at all and they're giving out a 'Doctor of Science' degree.
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Well, yeah. They're saying that Hamface is JUST as good at science as any of their doctors WOULD be, if they had any doctoral programs.

I'd take it as a slap in the face, really. Kind of like if my old Submarine School handed out an honorary certification for a jet pilot, or if the Air Force Academy handed out a certification for carrier landings. It's a big 'kick me' sign on the back, but I'm sure it makes him feel special.
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Hum...when I was in school, we talked of watching submarine races in the desert :D Not sure about dat honor thingy...
 
funinspace said:
Not sure about dat honor thingy...
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An actor who'd been in a submarine movie rode one of my subs, other crew. They gave him a set of Dolphins at the end of the tour to honor his portrayal of the sub life. That was an honor.

When we had a particularly rough trip to periscope depth, the XO went to control to give the diving officer a ticket stub from Six Flags. Thanking him for the roller coaster ride... That was not an honor.
 
Keith&Co. said:
funinspace said:
Not sure about dat honor thingy...
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An actor who'd been in a submarine movie rode one of my subs, other crew. They gave him a set of Dolphins at the end of the tour to honor his portrayal of the sub life. That was an honor.

When we had a particularly rough trip to periscope depth, the XO went to control to give the diving officer a ticket stub from Six Flags. Thanking him for the roller coaster ride... That was not an honor.
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Well, yah those are nifty examples to explain 'honor'. However, I wasn't sure about 'honor' related to taking a girl out into the desert to watch submarine races, or figuring out how to fill in the time waiting for one to start....
 
Keith&Co. said:
Well, it makes sense to me. Similar to my job. my position as a training specialist for the military curricula based upon our weapon systems requires an education or engineering degree. But they accepted that 20 years of employment in the Navy, working on the weapon systems made by this company, is equivalent.

An honorary degree recognizes that rather than sitting in a classroom and doing the learning, you have done sufficient work in the real world to put you on a level with their students. You've had an impact on a subject, a discipline, a topic equal to that of their graduates and made the world a place where your contributions must be recognized.
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That, I'd be fine with. Give people a degree if they've advanced a field despite not having the right certifications and paperwork. Plenty of people do that and deserve recognition that they have the highest level of expertise. I'd propose some myself.

However, that's not how honorary degrees are given. They are almost always handed out to celebrities that schools want to bribe to making a cameo at their graduations. I mean, talk about diluting honor - Pitbull has an 'honorary' doctorate. :eek:

Keith&Co. said:
but ffs Bryan College doesn't even offer any doctoral programs at all and they're giving out a 'Doctor of Science' degree.
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Well, yeah. They're saying that Hamface is JUST as good at science as any of their doctors WOULD be, if they had any doctoral programs.

I'd take it as a slap in the face, really. Kind of like if my old Submarine School handed out an honorary certification for a jet pilot, or if the Air Force Academy handed out a certification for carrier landings. It's a big 'kick me' sign on the back, but I'm sure it makes him feel special.
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More like the Submarine School giving an honorary certification to Pitbull the rapper. :p
 
funinspace said:
Keith&Co. said:
Well, it makes sense to me. Similar to my job. my position as a training specialist for the military curricula based upon our weapon systems requires an education or engineering degree. But they accepted that 20 years of employment in the Navy, working on the weapon systems made by this company, is equivalent.

An honorary degree recognizes that rather than sitting in a classroom and doing the learning, you have done sufficient work in the real world to put you on a level with their students. You've had an impact on a subject, a discipline, a topic equal to that of their graduates and made the world a place where your contributions must be recognized.


Well, yeah. They're saying that Hamface is JUST as good at science as any of their doctors WOULD be, if they had any doctoral programs.

I'd take it as a slap in the face, really. Kind of like if my old Submarine School handed out an honorary certification for a jet pilot, or if the Air Force Academy handed out a certification for carrier landings. It's a big 'kick me' sign on the back, but I'm sure it makes him feel special.
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Hum...when I was in school, we talked of watching submarine races in the desert :D Not sure about dat honor thingy...
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Talk is cheap. In Australia, we actually do it. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-11/yellow-submarine-built-for-henley-on-todd/5662836

Well, most years: "The regatta had to be cancelled in 1993, when unseasonal rain meant there was water in the river."
 
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