I veer back and forth between thinking that this is absurd and that it makes good sense. To wit: someone proclaiming "I'm a doctor" or "I'm a lawyer" and then

I veer back and forth between thinking that this is absurd and that it makes good sense. To wit: someone proclaiming "I'm a doctor" or "I'm a lawyer" and then providing medical or legal advice, without a medical or law license, probably wouldn't be too surprised if they got into trouble. It wasn't that long ago when being an engineer was in the same class. Saying you were an engineer usually meant that you had qualified as a Professional Engineer, which in most states requires work experience, a mentorship or internship with a practicing PE, and a knowledge test. Today, just about anyone can be an engineer. Heck, I call myself one most of the time when people ask me what I do. I've asked around my office, and we do indeed have two or three PE's out of a thousand-odd "engineers"; all of them are in their 50's. It feels like the engineering societies are fighting a rear-guard action, when they should have gotten ahead of the game if they really wanted to protect the term. Much like Realtors(TM) have done [and yes, the word is trademarked by the trade association and is always supposed to be capitalized] However -- the real absurdity is that he was speaking on his own behalf, not falsely representing or advising clients for money. To me, sanctioning him for doing some solid math and physics is ludicrous overreach, and clearly the court agrees.