> why do we need to "measure knowledge"?
Because knowledge is currency. It opens doors to privilege and status in society. It also ensures incompetent people are not put into positions where they can do harm.
Because knowledge is currency. It opens doors to privilege and status in society. It also ensures incompetent people are not put into positions where they can do harm.
Sure, but why would you hire an unlicensed electrician, or surgeon, or car mechanic, or builder, or elevator mechanic, or really anything that matters?
The only areas where this point becomes moot are in areas where certifications already are not an issue, i.e. in jobs that almost anyone can do.
Also, I’m fairly certain car mechanics are not licensed where I live. Sometimes licenses are just frivolous, especially in modern day society.
You don't need a licensing system, you just need a reputation system. Like how bonds have a rating system; nobody's stopping you buying a junk bond, but the system makes it clear to you that it's a got a high probability of default.
If it is not a matter of life and death, there's no possibility it will happen, because of regulations.
Anyway:
More than 250,000 people in the US die every year because of medical mistakes, making it the third-leading cause of death
10 percent of all U.S. deaths are now due to medical errors
can I sell it?
Can I buy grocery with knowledge?
Knowledge is a tool!
And it's not even universally true, if you know American English it is perfectly useless in rural China or Japan or Central Africa.
EDIT: I'll add another example that won't upset the American audience.
Numbers in French.
We are used to the decimal system, it won't work in France, they count numbers using the vigesimal system.
So 84, 80 + 4 is quatre-vingt-quatre, 4 x 20 + 4.
My way of counting numbers, which is a basic requirements for kids aged 5, is completely useless in France, even though France is a close Neighbour of my country and we dealt with each other since the dawn of history.