One of the best ideas to come out of Sunday’s Lessons and Carols for Godless People was an analogy drawn by Dara Ó Briain. Dara laid out the difference between dietitians and nutritionists: ‘dietitian’ is a protected title, they need to be educated to a high level, etc., while anyone can call themselves a ‘nutritionist’. Dara drew a comparison with dentists: you have to meet certain, fairly stringent, criteria to call yourself a dentist or dietitian; anyone, though, can call themselves a toothiologist or nutritionist.
So, next time you need a filling – who fancies seeing a toothiologist?
6 Comments
December 23, 2008 at 12:49 pm
You have to love a man who wants to round homeopaths, psychics and nutritionists up, put them in a bag and hit them with sticks. Count me in for that.
I was amused to notice a stand offering “Free stress tests” down the road from the venue. I’m fairly sure sceptics and atheists would not be interested in LRH’s Scientology mumbojumbo. I was tempted to have a go but thought I might get sucked in and end up believing in aliens. One of the stallholders said LRH was not dead he had just left his body to “do research”
December 23, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Some people claim that after a drinking bender. Likewise believing in aliens.
As for setting up the stall, I don’t know if that was optimism or bravura.
I, too, like the toothiologist analogy.
December 23, 2008 at 8:39 pm
Thank you. Now pls can we have the same thing for Chartered Psychologist /= counsellor, psychotherapist, etc etc etc!
December 23, 2008 at 10:37 pm
The placing in a bag and dusting with sticks or an analogy like the toothiologist, Duck?
December 24, 2008 at 1:41 am
Talking of followers of L-Ron, we should put in a mention for Dr Crippen’s piece on “Professor” Keith Scott-Mumby, Internet alternative physician, scientologist, self-styled Professor and former everyone-has-an-allergy Manchester GP?
August 21, 2009 at 7:44 am
[...] Friday Foolery [1]: On Homeopathy, Nutritionists and Toothiologists 21 08 2009 Widely referred to on twitter, shown on the blog of drShock, and already cited in 2008… [...]