Qualified Qualifications, Credible Credentials

Dateline: London, 7th February 2024.I’m fascinated by stories about what is “real” and what is “fake” and because of my obsession with digital identity. Not only the digital identity of people, but the digital identity of everything. People, bots, animals, things and even countries. Countries? Yes, Arnaldo Chamorro, chief of staff for Paraguay’s agriculture ministry, was replaced after signing a memorandum of understanding with representatives of a non-existent country, the United States of Kailasa (a fictional state, described as the “revival of the ancient enlightened Hindu civilisational nation” led, is led by a self-styled guru, Nithyananda, wanted in India on several charges, including sexual assault).ShareWhat Are You Faking?I’m especially fascinated by stories about fake credentials, such as academic and workplace qualifications. What’s more, being English, I have a particular obsession with stories about fake dentist credentials. For example, the story of Omid Amidi-Mazaheri, an asylum seeker who told British immigration officers that he had a dental practice in Iran and repeatedly left patients in agony after he drilled without a local anaesthetic and did expensive fillings that crumbled within days. But how were his patients supposed to know whether he was a real dentist with a false identity or a real identity with false credentials?You would imagine that some training is necessary to be a dentist. Hence the need to check the credentials of dentists (although while writing this it occurs to me that I have never checked the credentials of mine) but there are other jobs — perhaps many other…Qualified Qualifications, Credible Credentials