Thank you for your thoughtful replies.
Being self educated has served me well. I managed to conduct some meaningful interdisciplinary research on my own. I am acknowledged as an expert in my area of study, published in some journals with a BS degree in a different area, invited to academic conferences, invited to write some book chapters. I have had the opportunity to travel around the world lecturing. At first, I was smart enough to seek out co-authors with proper letters after their names. There is no shortage of tenured PhD�s who will trade their prestige for enthusiasm and creativity in the years of dotage before their retirement. It was mostly pro bono, but I am grateful to have done something meaningful. Some academics were hateful to me at conferences, but a supportive colleague explained to me that I was not supposed to be this smart with a BS and I intimidated them. He said I should take it as a compliment, and stop correcting everyone who called me �Dr.� because my body of work fulfilled the requirements of a PhD. But getting paid is really useful, so help your bright stars get through the maze and get the letters after their name so they can get the rewards they deserve. Academia has a lot of rot in it, too.
Yes, I've already ordered a book that I found through this site. I need to learn to be nicer to people who are willfully ignorant.
