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Why Do Colleges Give Honorary Degrees?

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Re: Why Do Colleges Give Honorary Degrees?

#31

Post by seanmcdirmid »

reuven wrote: post #14
fiatmoney wrote: post #4

There should be a distinction between an "honorary" degree awarded because a "real" one would be superfluous (Richard Stallman, Increase Mather, etc) and those awarded because of donations or co-branding.

Stallman is a hugely influential person. He has contributed a great deal to the world of free software. And giving him an honorary degree is a great thing, demonstrating his many accomplishments. But it still really bugs me that he calls himself a PhD, and asks for the title "Dr." (And yes, I have a PhD, on which I worked for 11 years, at great cost to myself and my family. So feel free to take my comments with a gra…

Even as a PhD, I do not want to be called doctor, nor do I call attention to it unless it is somehow relevant (which is almost never!). As you said, anyone can get a PhD if they just put in the blood and sweat, we should be judged by our accomplishments, not titles.

Re: Why Do Colleges Give Honorary Degrees?

#32

Post by greendestiny »

vacri wrote: post #28
reuven wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stallman is a hugely influential person. He has contributed a great deal to the world of free software. And giving him an honorary degree is a great thing, demonstrating his many accomplishments. But it still really bugs me that he calls himself a PhD, and asks for the title "Dr." (And yes, I have a PhD, on which I worked for 11 years, at great cost to myself and my family. So feel free to take my comments with a gra…

> And yes, I have a PhD, on which I worked for 11 years, at great cost to myself and my family. Stallman's work hasn't entailed great effort, long years, and costs to himself and loved ones? As you say, a PhD is more about elbow-grease than intellect, but Stallman has that in spades - not only about the philosophy he espouses, but also that he personally created so much of the GNU environment that we take for granted…

Stallman deserves a real doctorate no doubt about that. He shouldn't be seen as the same as someone who happened to donate enough or be famous enough, he's done so much more. He shouldn't pretend he has an honour he hasn't earned either, that's just sad.

Re: Why Do Colleges Give Honorary Degrees?

#34

Post by placebo »

animefan wrote: post #17
vladmk wrote: post #15

Do you think the guy who invented college went to college? Nope. It's obviously degrees are bullshit, one day I hope people learn that.

Is this a serious comment? Do you believe that there is literally a "guy who invented college".

Of course, it's the same guy who previously invented languages :)

Seriously though, I'd like to offer a perspective that will hopefully demonstrate that OP's opinion is not devoid of merit.

I propose that in a perfect world, degrees would not be necessary. Also, grades would not be necessary for the same reason. Putting it in rather simplistic terms, both are something artificial that degrade the passion for knowledge by mixing it with the passion for prestige. They are a crude instrument serving as an external motivator that often comes at the expense of a natural and internal one which exists in everyone. An internal motivator is much better at rendering any difficulties along the path insignificant due to the joy of the pursuit.

Of course, I don't think that abolishing grades and degrees today would be wise. It would be a disaster, as irresponsible as taking taking away very good crutches from a handicapped person. I just hope that with time, the person can be taught to be more passionate about learning to walk than improving his crutches.

I assume this is not going to be a popular opinion because many people are too deeply invested in their academic achievements. Also, I might not be seeing the whole picture so I'm open to criticism.

Re: Why Do Colleges Give Honorary Degrees?

#35

Post by peteretep »

vladmk wrote: post #15

Do you think the guy who invented college went to college? Nope. It's obviously degrees are bullshit, one day I hope people learn that.

    > It's obviously degrees are bullshit, one day I hope
    > people learn that
Degrees have some value, otherwise people wouldn't have to learn that they didn't. Circular reasoning, innit?

Re: Why Do Colleges Give Honorary Degrees?

#36

Post by riffraff »

Honorary degrees seem to follow the same pattern in Italy.

Off the top of my head, I remember them being awarded to a few musicians (literature), a sportsman (Valentino Rossi, bike racer in "Communication Sciences"), tv personalities and only one that made some sense (Ronald Rivest, Computer Science).

(Interestingly enough, in Italy the "Dr." honorific is used for people with a master degree, not just a doctorate as it is elsewhere, so people receive just a master-level degree, not a Ph.D).

Re: Why Do Colleges Give Honorary Degrees?

#37

Post by steve-howard »

vacri wrote: post #30
adevine wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, as a UVA grad I didn't realize they didn't give honorary degrees, but I think their approach of giving "medals" instead is the right one. Also, even if you are Richard Stallman or Maya Angelou, demanding to be called "Dr" due to an honorary degree is just lame.

My favourite professor said that the only use for his 'Dr' was for getting a good seat table when making a reservation at a restaurant. It doesn't make your work or your opinions magically better, and there are plenty of clueless PhDs out there. Besides, demanding any honourific is lame - proof of this is in the honorifics for politicians. :)

I found it was useful for addressing my postdoc instructors formally when they didn't seem comfortable on a first-name basis.

Re: Why Do Colleges Give Honorary Degrees?

#38

Post by GabrielF00 »

vacri wrote: post #30
adevine wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, as a UVA grad I didn't realize they didn't give honorary degrees, but I think their approach of giving "medals" instead is the right one. Also, even if you are Richard Stallman or Maya Angelou, demanding to be called "Dr" due to an honorary degree is just lame.

My favourite professor said that the only use for his 'Dr' was for getting a good seat table when making a reservation at a restaurant. It doesn't make your work or your opinions magically better, and there are plenty of clueless PhDs out there. Besides, demanding any honourific is lame - proof of this is in the honorifics for politicians. :)

This discussion reminds me of an interesting story. In the South under Jim Crow, whites were very reluctant to call a black man "Mr.", which made things difficult when they had to discuss prominent people (like Booker T. Washington) who had to be addressed formally. The solution was to emphasize that person's title.

"To an unfamiliar Northerner one of very interesting and somewhat amusing phases of conditions down here is the panic fear displayed over the use of "Mr." or "Mrs." No Negro is ever called Mr. or Mrs. by a white man: that would indicate social equality. A Southern white man told me with humor of his difficulties:

"Now I admire Booker Washington. I regard him as a great man, and yet I couldn't call him Mr. Washington. We were all in a quandary until a doctor's degree was given him. That saved our lives! We all call him 'Dr.' Washington now."

Sure enough! I don't thing I have heard him called Mr. Washington since I came down here. It is always "Dr.' or just 'Booker.' They are ready to call a Negro 'Professor' or 'Bishop' or 'The Reverend' - but not 'Mr.'

https://books.google.com/books?id=QsLQAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA148&lpg=...

Re: Why Do Colleges Give Honorary Degrees?

#39

Post by vacri »

greendestiny wrote: post #32
vacri wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And yes, I have a PhD, on which I worked for 11 years, at great cost to myself and my family. Stallman's work hasn't entailed great effort, long years, and costs to himself and loved ones? As you say, a PhD is more about elbow-grease than intellect, but Stallman has that in spades - not only about the philosophy he espouses, but also that he personally created so much of the GNU environment that we take for granted…

Stallman deserves a real doctorate no doubt about that. He shouldn't be seen as the same as someone who happened to donate enough or be famous enough, he's done so much more. He shouldn't pretend he has an honour he hasn't earned either, that's just sad.

This gets back to the OP's original point, the need for a differentiation between PhDs between "My accomplishment is name recognition" and "I have done the work, I just didn't fill out out an application form first".

Re: Why Do Colleges Give Honorary Degrees?

#40

Post by reuven »

vacri wrote: post #28
reuven wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stallman is a hugely influential person. He has contributed a great deal to the world of free software. And giving him an honorary degree is a great thing, demonstrating his many accomplishments. But it still really bugs me that he calls himself a PhD, and asks for the title "Dr." (And yes, I have a PhD, on which I worked for 11 years, at great cost to myself and my family. So feel free to take my comments with a gra…

> And yes, I have a PhD, on which I worked for 11 years, at great cost to myself and my family. Stallman's work hasn't entailed great effort, long years, and costs to himself and loved ones? As you say, a PhD is more about elbow-grease than intellect, but Stallman has that in spades - not only about the philosophy he espouses, but also that he personally created so much of the GNU environment that we take for granted…

A PhD doesn't mean that you worked hard. It means that you have worked on research in a certain field, judged by the standards of that field. Believe me, those "standards" can be arbitrary, and they often involve a lot of red tape, politics, and insanity. But they exist, whether we like it or not.

I think that Stallman could easily get a PhD in any of several disciplines, if he wanted to. One or more universities could (and should) have offered this option to him.

But he has decided not to finish, and no university has decided to give him a PhD. Rather, they gave him an honorary PhD. There is a difference, and he should have the decency to recognize it as such.

Life is about choices, including where you choose to put your time and money. Stallman has decided to put his time and money into free software. That's his choice, and it's a good one overall. But that doesn't automatically mean that he deserves to be praised as a PhD, or given the title "Doctor."

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