TheNightling
@TheNightling
0
So you want to be a mad scientist?
This post is h ow to (technically) legally refer to yourself as a doctor for your mad scientist persona even if they kicked you out of med school (MWAHAHA!)
I used to be very anal when I saw the meme declaring that Frankenstein is The Doctor and the creature is Frankenstein’s Monster. Another annoying thing was the tacked-on of “Wisdom is knowing Frankenstein is The Doctor and he IS the monster!” Because everyone who pretended to read the book seems to want to turn the story into something simplistically black and white and don’t realize Mary Shelley wanted us to sympathize with Victor AND his creature. Both were sympathetic and both did horrible things. It’s not as simple as Victor Bad, Creature Good.
But what I used to get anal about initially (besides the moral complexities of the characters being reduced to something cartoonish) was the claim that Victor was a doctor. Not only did Victor never graduate from university but he was not a medical student at all. He was studying Metaphysics.
But it occurred to me: The requirement for a medical doctor to have a degree in order to be considered a doctor did not come about in England until the mid-nineteenth century. And disturbingly, in the US, being a doctor wasn’t regulated with required degrees until 1910, with the Flexner report. (We’re always roughly fifty to sixty years behind England, culturally). Until 1910, in the US, you could buy a medical diploma from a trade school (Vocational school). Essentially Victoria era diploma mills.
So yeah, even without graduating, Victor Frankenstein could be considered a doctor. And the word “Scientist” is not legally protected, even today. So yes, Victor could be considered a doctor and was a scientist.
Now on to the fun part of this post. Now that we’ve established that you can legally call yourself a scientist without a degree here’s how you can (todaly) legally (technically) call yourself a doctor without having gone to medical school.
“I don’t believe that man’s ever been to medical school.” – Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story.
"I didn't spend six years in Evil Medical School to be called 'Mister,' thank you very much." - Doctor Evil in the movie Austin Powers.
So you want to to be a mad scientist and want to go all the way and call yourself a mad doctor but you also have enough residual ethics that you don’t want to misrepresent yourself but you got yourself expelled from evil medical school. That’s not a problem. There are fields of science where accredited degrees don’t exist in the subject and so you can technically call yourself one of those without a degree.
These are pseudosciences or more politely Esoteric Sciences.
Let’s look at the titles you can use.
Cryptozoologist – Cryptozoology is the study of and search for undiscovered animal life. Bigfoot, Loch Ness Monster, and Champ (North American equivalent of The Loch Ness Monster) fit under this category. There are no accredited degrees in Crytozoology. The ethical hope is that someone may study traditional zoology and then choose to specialize in cryptozoology, that is if academia hasn’t disillusioned the person into losing all hope and interest in undiscovered life. But the reality is most self-professed Cryptozoologists don’t have any credentials in regard to zoology or any loosely related degrees. You are not required to have a degree to call yourself a cryptozoologist.
Doctor Moreau in H. G. Welles’ The Island of Doctor Moreau would probably count as a Cryptozoologist even if he is the one who created his undiscovered animal life.
Paracryptozoologist – Paracryptozoology is the study of and search for undiscovered paranormally endowed or originated creatures. This includes shadow people, The black-eyed-Children, The Jersey Devil, and the Rougarou. The situation is similar to Cryptozoology in that the closest thing you have to a legitimate degree is to study zoology and hope you don’t become jaded against the unusual. Not only are there no degrees in paracryptozoology but there aren’t even online courses for it… yet. At the time of writing this in 2016, the term is still only fifteen or so years old.
Demonologist – Demonology is the lore and beliefs about demons. There are no actual degrees in demonology. Anyone can call themselves a demonologist. Some self-titled demonologists have an academic history in theology and folklore but it is not a requirement.
Ufologist AKA UFOlogist – Ufology / UFOlogy is the study of claims of UFO and extraterrestrial encounters. There are no genuine Ufology degrees available. Instead you could study astrophysics and get a degree in that. Anyone can call themselves a Ufologist without a degree.
Astrology – Astrology degrees do exist but they are rare. Most astrology courses teach the history and traditions tied to astrology as something akin to folklore. There are vocational courses in the field of astrology but it is not required. Astrology is not regulated so that means anyone can call themselves an astrologer AKA astrologist.
Now for the slightly grey area.
Parapsychologist – This is the scientific study and examination of claims of the paranormal. There are no accredited degrees specific to parapsychology. Instead it’s suggested that you get a degree in psychology, physics, or neuroscience and then choose to specialize. There are vocational schools that offer courses in parapsychology but no actual degrees specific to the subject. However with parapsychology they do prefer you to have a degree in some related field before calling yourself a parapsychologist. But despite what they may prefer, Parapsychology is not regulated like medical doctor or psychologist so you can legally call yourself a parapsychologist without a degree though you may face considerably more skepticism.
Pesudoscience / Esoteric Science titles you can use without a degree:
Parapsychologist
Astrologist (Astrologer)
Ufologist (UFOlogist)
Demonologist
Cryptozoologist
Paracryptozoologist
These are all pseudo-sciences or Esotric Science titles you can claim without a degree or certification.
Esoteric sciences is kind of a wild west in that these fields are not well-regulated yet and may never be.
________________________________
So you got expelled from evil medical school but you still want a degree and to be able to call yourself a doctor and not merely latch onto a title that doesn’t require a doctorate. Well, that’s not a problem.
The Universal Life Church (ULC) offers honorary doctorates to all of its ministers. All you have to do is be ordained as a minister of The Universal Life Church.
Many schools offer honorary doctorates for acts of charity, achievements in art and literature, donating to the school or spiritual charities, or for academic achievements that don’t quite fit the criteria for traditional doctorates.
The Universal Life Church offers five honoary doctorates. I currently have four of them.
There’s the Honorary Doctorate of Divinity (D.D.), Doctorate in Metaphysics (D.META.), Litterarum Doctor (D.Litt.), Litterarum humanarum (Doctor of Humane letters) (L.H.D.).
And most recently they added their first novelty / joke honorary doctorate of “Doctor of Space and Time.” In reality that would probably be an honorary doctorate in astrophysics. In this case it’s a nod to the British TV series Doctor Who and doesn’t mention astrophysics at all. This one is kind of an honorary joke degree they now offer for the fun of it.
They also offer a Master of Wicca honorary diploma, which has more serious value than a “Doctor of Space and Time” diploma.
With honorary doctorates you are allowed to refer to yourself as doctor in personal situations but it is considered improper to use it on a resume, business cards, or professionally as it could be regarded as misleading. It’s not actually illegal, it’s just frowned upon.
_______________________________
And there you have it. You have esoteric scientific fields to choose from (Parapsychologist, Astrologer (Astrologist), Ufologist (UFOlogist), Demonologist, Cryptozoologist, and Paracryptozoologist), and / or you can go about gaining an honorary doctorate. Now you are ready to begin your career as a mad scientist.
I am afraid I can’t help you with the madness part of your chosen career path. You’ll have to achieve that by yourself but you’ll have the voices in your head to keep you company.
This post is h ow to (technically) legally refer to yourself as a doctor for your mad scientist persona even if they kicked you out of med school (MWAHAHA!)
I used to be very anal when I saw the meme declaring that Frankenstein is The Doctor and the creature is Frankenstein’s Monster. Another annoying thing was the tacked-on of “Wisdom is knowing Frankenstein is The Doctor and he IS the monster!” Because everyone who pretended to read the book seems to want to turn the story into something simplistically black and white and don’t realize Mary Shelley wanted us to sympathize with Victor AND his creature. Both were sympathetic and both did horrible things. It’s not as simple as Victor Bad, Creature Good.
But what I used to get anal about initially (besides the moral complexities of the characters being reduced to something cartoonish) was the claim that Victor was a doctor. Not only did Victor never graduate from university but he was not a medical student at all. He was studying Metaphysics.
But it occurred to me: The requirement for a medical doctor to have a degree in order to be considered a doctor did not come about in England until the mid-nineteenth century. And disturbingly, in the US, being a doctor wasn’t regulated with required degrees until 1910, with the Flexner report. (We’re always roughly fifty to sixty years behind England, culturally). Until 1910, in the US, you could buy a medical diploma from a trade school (Vocational school). Essentially Victoria era diploma mills.
So yeah, even without graduating, Victor Frankenstein could be considered a doctor. And the word “Scientist” is not legally protected, even today. So yes, Victor could be considered a doctor and was a scientist.
Now on to the fun part of this post. Now that we’ve established that you can legally call yourself a scientist without a degree here’s how you can (todaly) legally (technically) call yourself a doctor without having gone to medical school.
“I don’t believe that man’s ever been to medical school.” – Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story.
"I didn't spend six years in Evil Medical School to be called 'Mister,' thank you very much." - Doctor Evil in the movie Austin Powers.
So you want to to be a mad scientist and want to go all the way and call yourself a mad doctor but you also have enough residual ethics that you don’t want to misrepresent yourself but you got yourself expelled from evil medical school. That’s not a problem. There are fields of science where accredited degrees don’t exist in the subject and so you can technically call yourself one of those without a degree.
These are pseudosciences or more politely Esoteric Sciences.
Let’s look at the titles you can use.
Cryptozoologist – Cryptozoology is the study of and search for undiscovered animal life. Bigfoot, Loch Ness Monster, and Champ (North American equivalent of The Loch Ness Monster) fit under this category. There are no accredited degrees in Crytozoology. The ethical hope is that someone may study traditional zoology and then choose to specialize in cryptozoology, that is if academia hasn’t disillusioned the person into losing all hope and interest in undiscovered life. But the reality is most self-professed Cryptozoologists don’t have any credentials in regard to zoology or any loosely related degrees. You are not required to have a degree to call yourself a cryptozoologist.
Doctor Moreau in H. G. Welles’ The Island of Doctor Moreau would probably count as a Cryptozoologist even if he is the one who created his undiscovered animal life.
Paracryptozoologist – Paracryptozoology is the study of and search for undiscovered paranormally endowed or originated creatures. This includes shadow people, The black-eyed-Children, The Jersey Devil, and the Rougarou. The situation is similar to Cryptozoology in that the closest thing you have to a legitimate degree is to study zoology and hope you don’t become jaded against the unusual. Not only are there no degrees in paracryptozoology but there aren’t even online courses for it… yet. At the time of writing this in 2016, the term is still only fifteen or so years old.
Demonologist – Demonology is the lore and beliefs about demons. There are no actual degrees in demonology. Anyone can call themselves a demonologist. Some self-titled demonologists have an academic history in theology and folklore but it is not a requirement.
Ufologist AKA UFOlogist – Ufology / UFOlogy is the study of claims of UFO and extraterrestrial encounters. There are no genuine Ufology degrees available. Instead you could study astrophysics and get a degree in that. Anyone can call themselves a Ufologist without a degree.
Astrology – Astrology degrees do exist but they are rare. Most astrology courses teach the history and traditions tied to astrology as something akin to folklore. There are vocational courses in the field of astrology but it is not required. Astrology is not regulated so that means anyone can call themselves an astrologer AKA astrologist.
Now for the slightly grey area.
Parapsychologist – This is the scientific study and examination of claims of the paranormal. There are no accredited degrees specific to parapsychology. Instead it’s suggested that you get a degree in psychology, physics, or neuroscience and then choose to specialize. There are vocational schools that offer courses in parapsychology but no actual degrees specific to the subject. However with parapsychology they do prefer you to have a degree in some related field before calling yourself a parapsychologist. But despite what they may prefer, Parapsychology is not regulated like medical doctor or psychologist so you can legally call yourself a parapsychologist without a degree though you may face considerably more skepticism.
Pesudoscience / Esoteric Science titles you can use without a degree:
Parapsychologist
Astrologist (Astrologer)
Ufologist (UFOlogist)
Demonologist
Cryptozoologist
Paracryptozoologist
These are all pseudo-sciences or Esotric Science titles you can claim without a degree or certification.
Esoteric sciences is kind of a wild west in that these fields are not well-regulated yet and may never be.
________________________________
So you got expelled from evil medical school but you still want a degree and to be able to call yourself a doctor and not merely latch onto a title that doesn’t require a doctorate. Well, that’s not a problem.
The Universal Life Church (ULC) offers honorary doctorates to all of its ministers. All you have to do is be ordained as a minister of The Universal Life Church.
Many schools offer honorary doctorates for acts of charity, achievements in art and literature, donating to the school or spiritual charities, or for academic achievements that don’t quite fit the criteria for traditional doctorates.
The Universal Life Church offers five honoary doctorates. I currently have four of them.
There’s the Honorary Doctorate of Divinity (D.D.), Doctorate in Metaphysics (D.META.), Litterarum Doctor (D.Litt.), Litterarum humanarum (Doctor of Humane letters) (L.H.D.).
And most recently they added their first novelty / joke honorary doctorate of “Doctor of Space and Time.” In reality that would probably be an honorary doctorate in astrophysics. In this case it’s a nod to the British TV series Doctor Who and doesn’t mention astrophysics at all. This one is kind of an honorary joke degree they now offer for the fun of it.
They also offer a Master of Wicca honorary diploma, which has more serious value than a “Doctor of Space and Time” diploma.
With honorary doctorates you are allowed to refer to yourself as doctor in personal situations but it is considered improper to use it on a resume, business cards, or professionally as it could be regarded as misleading. It’s not actually illegal, it’s just frowned upon.
_______________________________
And there you have it. You have esoteric scientific fields to choose from (Parapsychologist, Astrologer (Astrologist), Ufologist (UFOlogist), Demonologist, Cryptozoologist, and Paracryptozoologist), and / or you can go about gaining an honorary doctorate. Now you are ready to begin your career as a mad scientist.
I am afraid I can’t help you with the madness part of your chosen career path. You’ll have to achieve that by yourself but you’ll have the voices in your head to keep you company.
