That's true, but this essay is written with an authoritative voice, not a pondering one. PG tends to write as if he is teaching his audience something profound. So I think it's fair to call out when he is wrong or misguided.
I agree with the other comment that my words “hostile gatekeeping” were too strong. I just get irritated with philosophers specifically, because philosophy itself is a normal human experience. Everyone finds themselves thinking about things that veer into philosophical subjects. To even criticize people for doing so without reading the professional literature is just so annoying to me.
The subtext in your comment is that everyone does philosophy all the time, and there's no difference between professional and amateur philosophers.
I'd think that would present itself as a rather pleasant opportunity for any bypassing philosopher to stop and teach them about the "decades of discourse" on it rather than being annoyed?