I've had a change of heart. The way titles happen these days is pointless and inane, designed almost deliberately to be inefficient, even to the extent that it serves the values it was designed
for
. I thought I could fix it with new tricks and "higher standards", but what's wrong with the way titles have worked so far is more fundamental than that stuff, and I don't want to waste time anymore pretending otherwise. So from now on, I'm letting anyone who wants a title have it just by posting in this thread the title that they want.
No "nths". No pontificating. Just say what you want, and it's yours (as long as it follows Site Rules). As soon as I have time, you'll get your update. I know some of you won't like these changes; you're free to complain about them in the appropriate thread. But you have to understand that the institution as it is now only serves a small minority of the members of this community, some of whom don't even like the status quo nonetheless. The titles you know and cherish and love will stay there for as long as the people who have them want them; they won't lose their value because other people can choose their titles. You can preserve the parts of the title institution you love by choosing and encouraging others to choose titles that achieve the resonance with the broader community you treasure. But this is my call. And that's that.
If you want a title, post what you want here in bold text, and that'll be it.
