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Comment by cperciva | Hacker News Reader

unlicensed medicine

That's completely different. The licensing of medical practitioners is not based on any notion of protecting society from deviant behaviour; it is based on the need to protect vulnerable individuals from fraud.

I have no problem with consenting individuals engaging in sex acts or internships, with or without pay -- but I absolutely believe that fraud, in all its forms, should be illegal, since a fraudulent transaction is not one between truly consenting individuals.

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One need not be licensed to be honest.

True, and one doesn't need a driver's license to know how to drive -- but a system of licensing is the most efficient way of verifying qualifications.

Why should we prefer licencing to certification, if desired with protected titles so that the difference between e.g. a Software Engineer (certified) and a programmer is abundantly obvious to anyone to anyone who does the research? Likewise lawyer (passed Bar exam) and an employee of a legal services company which does the kind of routine legal services that are well within the capabilities of the average paralegal but whicg they'd be prosecuted for offering withoug the imprimatur of a J.D. now.

Certification is much better than licensing, because one can always choose to ignore certification, or shop around for the best certifications. This, in turn, is important because licensing and certification both sometimes fail utterly to accurately reflect someone's capabilities -- which means that sometimes you're better off avoiding the licensed or certified individual in favor of someone else who doesn't have the same license or certification but knows his or her shit better and more thoroughly. In the case of a licensed industry, though, you're not allowed to make that kind of decision for yourself.

> the difference between e.g. a Software Engineer (certified) and a programmer is abundantly obvious to anyone to anyone who does the research?

What difference is there objectively between 'a certified software engineer' and 'a programmer' ?

In Illinois, you need a license to charge money to suggest where throw pillows should be placed; interior design is a licensed profession. A system of licensing is the most efficient way of verifying licenses.

Licensing helps, but it can be abused. Unlicensed anything isn't necessarily a bad thing, and, legal and mental affairs notwithstanding, buyers should be able to choose between multiple options.

I have a very difficult time associating the word "efficient" with the California DMV.

One need not keep their train ticket to have purchased one...

Do you think that refutes anything I said?

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