yammas's recent activity
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Comment on Am I Doctor Stallman? in ~life
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Comment on Am I Doctor Stallman? in ~life
yammas Link ParentI guess I should have said anglo-american university system, both Canada and Great Britain fall into that category. As per usual, we germans have laws about such stuff, e.g. the bavarian law about...I guess I should have said anglo-american university system, both Canada and Great Britain fall into that category. As per usual, we germans have laws about such stuff, e.g. the bavarian law about universities BayHSchG §67
1Die von deutschen staatlichen oder staatlich anerkannten Hochschulen verliehenen akademischen Grade dürfen nur gemäß der Verleihungsurkunde oder in der sonst festgelegten Form geführt werden; [...] 2Entsprechendes gilt für ehrenhalber verliehene akademische Grade.
Translation: The academic degrees awarded by German state or state-recognized universities may only be used in accordance with the award certificate or in the otherwise specified form;[...] 2The same applies to honorary academic degrees.
There's a handy pdf if you ever need to adress heads of state, the pope or basically anyone with any kind of title published by the german federal government which lists honorary degrees with actual degrees.
Here's another guide by the Ludwig Maximilian university of munich which treats honorary degrees almost the same as regular ones, except when someone has multiple titles you're allowed to shorten the adress to the highest degree unless that one is honorary, then it's the highest actual degree.
Honorary degrees can by law only be granted in the same field(s) the university grants regular degrees in and it is illegal to pay for them or make them dependant on a donation.
Well, I didn't expect to look up and learn this much about academic degrees tonight or... ever. To get back to the article's topic, according to german law Stallman has the right to call himself Doctor h.c. but he always has to add the h.c. to distinguish his grade from a regular one.
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Comment on Am I Doctor Stallman? in ~life
yammas Link ParentYou're only looking at it from a US-centric perspective. Other countries have other customs. Ferdinand Porsche, for example, would always be adressed as Dr. Ing. h. c. Porsche in Germany. I'd also...You're only looking at it from a US-centric perspective. Other countries have other customs. Ferdinand Porsche, for example, would always be adressed as Dr. Ing. h. c. Porsche in Germany. I'd also be wary of your first source, that's a marketing company trying to sell a book.
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Comment on Environmentalists have held protests outside a court that is deciding on a tunnel link between Germany and Denmark – they say the project is flawed on many levels in ~engineering
yammas Link ParentI think they make the comparison to argue that the Belt tunnel is massively oversized and overprized for the actual demand. The Elbtunnel is the most important north-south connection across the...I think they make the comparison to argue that the Belt tunnel is massively oversized and overprized for the actual demand. The Elbtunnel is the most important north-south connection across the Elbe and well known in Germany.
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Comment on Environmentalists have held protests outside a court that is deciding on a tunnel link between Germany and Denmark – they say the project is flawed on many levels in ~engineering
yammas Link ParentYou've got the wrong Elbtunnel, the new one is quite a bit longer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elbe_Tunnel_(1975)You've got the wrong Elbtunnel, the new one is quite a bit longer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elbe_Tunnel_(1975)
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Comment on What are some of your favorite RSS feeds to subscribe to? in ~tech
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Comment on The world might be better off without college for everyone in ~humanities
yammas LinkThis is a very one-sided opinion. Caplan is an economics professor, self-described libertarian and an adjunct scholar of the Cato institute which explains his standpoint. He only looks at one...This is a very one-sided opinion. Caplan is an economics professor, self-described libertarian and an adjunct scholar of the Cato institute which explains his standpoint. He only looks at one aspect, economic worth. He laments teaching for the tests and summer learning loss. But his ideas of a worthy education lead to this.
First and foremost: From kindergarten on, students spend thousands of hours studying subjects irrelevant to the modern labor market.
I abhor this view. Why must everything serve the "market"? Vincent van Gogh was an economic loser, unemployable, and died pennyless at a young age. Following Caplans logic he was an economically worthless person.
Why do English classes focus on literature and poetry instead of business and technical writing?
Business and technical writing require understanding the language and culture. Literature and poetry teach those. They also help developing good writing style.
Why do advanced-math classes bother with proofs almost no student can follow?
It's conjecture that almost no student can follow. I was taught mathematical proofs from eight grade onwards and pretty much all of my classmates could follow and produce proofs during tests. It's also quite concerning, that a professor of economics, a science based heavily on mathematics, thinks proofs are superfluous.
When will the typical student use history?
Every single day when they try to understand why the world is the way it is, what lead to the current situation and what may come of it.
I could go on and on about Caplan's myopic and, in my opinion, downright wrong viewpoint, but I'm tired.
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Comment on Looking inside a used voting machine from the 2016 election in ~tech
yammas (edited )Link ParentThe Defcon report is indeed quite interesting. I find it remarkable that Diebold is still in this business. They've been hacked before and haven't learned a thing it seems. Edit: They aren't,...The Defcon report is indeed quite interesting. I find it remarkable that Diebold is still in this business. They've been hacked before and haven't learned a thing it seems.
Edit: They aren't, anymore. Diebold sold the voting division to Election Systems & Software. They have a similar track record.
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Comment on Daily Tildes discussion - General questions/feedback in ~tildes.official
yammas Link ParentI just signed up and I got a private message with guidelines etc. I think that's a better way as people are less likely to miss it.I just signed up and I got a private message with guidelines etc. I think that's a better way as people are less likely to miss it.
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Comment on Looking inside a used voting machine from the 2016 election in ~tech
yammas LinkI hope they eventually compile that information into a blog post or something like that. Twitter is a terrible way to disseminate in-depth information.I hope they eventually compile that information into a blog post or something like that. Twitter is a terrible way to disseminate in-depth information.
No, not quite. To the first point, you would always list all degrees including honorary unless there's so many that it would become burdensome. Angela Merkel has a doctorate in chemistry and ~15 honorary doctorates, you wouldn't mention them all. In this case it's Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Angela Merkel. If she was also a professor at university, you'd strip all that and call her Professor Merkel. It's a bit confusing and I'm probably not explaining it very well. In essence, if there's a multitude of degrees to list, the honorary ones are the first to get taken off the list if there's an equal or higher real degree.
To your second point, yes, it is illegal to omit the h.c., but the point I was objecting to is that the use of honorary degrees is discouraged or even forbidden, which seems to be the norm in the anglosphere.