Indeed, degree programs as we know them have a shady history where they were often just nonsense credentials the general public was too ignorant to invalidate,

Indeed, degree programs as we know them have a shady history where they were often just nonsense credentials the general public was too ignorant to invalidate, but they were secular, and gained popularity as religions has faded. There’s a long history of payola in university. IMO our entire accreditation and credentialing system has so much corruption, anything but reproducible STEM education should be treated as being of suspect value. The credential is earned due to social hoop jumping, and very specific. It doesn’t really say much about general intelligence or worker skill. I’ve worked with PhDs that were so obtuse nothing was accomplished. It’s like trying to make a simple knife by first bootstrapping a universe to mine engineered carbon steel of the purest quality. In the end political network effects dictate reality. And that realm is clearly rife with delusions of grandeur.