Doctor, Doctor

Gainesville, Florida, where I live, is a college town. The state's largest institute of higher education, the University of Florida, dominates Gainesville, both in terms of geography and population. And so there are naturally many people living here who have PhD's, MD's, or the equivalent degrees that qualify them to be referred to as "Doctor So-and-so". And I respect and admire them for having achieved this great milestone in their lives. Someone with an advanced degree like that is obviously very knowledgeable and skilled in the specialized field that they studied to obtain it. But that all being said, that knowledge and skill does not automatically transfer to other fields and domains of society just because someone is addressed as "doctor".

A little more than ten years ago, Courtney Brown, a tenured PhD professor in a Georgia college, wrote a book in which he stated that the "science" of remote viewing had led him to contact with alien beings who were coming to aid us on Earth in our spiritual enlightenment. He was a frequent quest on Art Bell's late night radio show, which welcomed this sort of dressed up quackery. And, of course, the book was treated as being more legitimate because "Doctor" Courtney Brown had written it. But this individual's academic accomplishments had absolutely nothing to do with his flaky paranormal theories. In other words, expertise in a specialized area doesn't automatically translate into expertise (or even competence) in another. But people generally think it does, and give such doctors way too much respect and attention when they stray from their specialized field. There have been a few televangelists over recent years who have prominently displayed their doctorate titles with their names over the air. But those degrees only apply to the specific areas that they earned them in, and (to me) neither confers any authority to the proposition that they are closer to God than others nor that they are experts in politics, law, or evolutionary biology. Radio talk show host Michael Savage continually reminds his listeners that he is Doctor Michael Savage, because of his PhD many years ago in a medically-related specialized field. So is that supposed to give weight to his peculiar political opinions, which have nothing whatsoever to do with his degree? I don't think so, but it does nevertheless with a lot of people.

I am thoroughly awed by computers and the intricate mathematics and software that go into making this technology so viable and indispensable today. Those experts in computer software merit my general respect for their perseverance and discipline as well as my focused respect for their specialized skills. But that doesn't mean that they are better qualified than me to express themselves about politics, religion, sports, music, or tiddlywinks! A physician may be very skilled, altruistic, admirable and important in his or her profession, but that doesn't mean that this doctor has anything over me outside of medicine!

Whenever I hear someone referred to repeatedly with the "doctor" title before their name, and they are obviously nowhere near the setting in which their title carries any relevance, I instinctively become a little skeptical, and, yes, even a little negative toward that individual. You may think that jealousy may be a reason, and maybe you'd be right. But I think that sometimes "doctors" allow the title to be abused to the point where they can bypass the voices of others in making their opinions heard and acted upon to their advantage. In other words, to manipulate others. And it's this that I'm on guard against, right or wrong. Of course, I welcome the opinions of "doctors" as well as those of others. But unless they are expressing their opinion within the context of their field of expertise, their views hold no more presumed value for me than anyone else's.