A fair question, and I debated whether it would be productive that I do. This is my thinking on the subject.
On the one hand, it would reassure people and would lead to more business for me. However…
One of the most common cognitive biases that lead to people being abused by toxic people is the « authority fallacy » which goes like this: « because this person has a PhD, they MUST be right when they talk about this subject. So I don’t need to think. »
This would make sense if all PhDs on one subject agreed. But they don’t. So what happens?
We usually pick whichever PhDs agree with our gut feeling and we hallucinate that they must be right because they have a PhD. And those with a PhD who disagree with us? We attack them using ad hominem attacks.
« Negative ad hominems » (I don’t know if this is already a thing, I use this to explain this idea) are when we say « this person is an idiot, therefore I don’t have to listen to them. » Obviously, this is not an argument and the goal of such an insult is to sidestep actually addressing what they say. An honest response might be « I disagree with this person, and I am not clear how to explain why. For all I know they might be right. But it doesn’t appear that way to me, even if I lack the arguments. »
So while « this person is an idiot so we must not listen to them » is a negative ad hominem, a positive ad hominem is « this person is a PhD so we must listen to them ».
Given that narcissists use ad hominems instead of arguments, if I highlighted specific diplomas, I would be participating in positive ad hominems. And we know that some unscrupulous people falsify their diplomas (would you really verify? Really?).
Instead, I prefer to encourage people to do the following:
Consider that I have no qualifications whatsoever. Consider I am a random person making stuff up. When I quote specific sources, verify them and check if it adds up (if it doesn’t, please let me know so I can correct it!).
When you listen to what I say, consider if it makes sense to you. If it doesn’t, great, push back and seek why. And if it does, great. Pause, and examine why.
That which I share is NOT about me, it’s about the argument, and Truth, and if it’s relevant to you.
The only person with skin in the game in your life if YOU. Don’t outsource responsibility. Don’t delegate. Look for that which helps you and makes sense.
All I do is share that which helped me, so you can pick and choose, and create YOUR toolkit of ideas that you can test, and grow, and expand, and share, or discard and reject.
Many thanks to the YouTube viewers who engaged in the negative ad hominems, attacking my choice of not displaying my qualifications because they disliked videos, but did not explain why, specifically.
