My uncle was a Mathematics and Computer Science Professor for many years, so I'll explain what most people misunderstand about the Ph, D award:

It stands for Philosophy, Doctor. It's not an actual technical degree for any field. It's a Philosophy Degree awarded to people who are willing spend an inordinate amount of time and energy on attempting to prove a theory they have about a certain field of study they're interested in. The thing is, those theories don't actually have to be true. What matters is the effort they put into the dissertation writings trying to prove their Masters level thesis. It's understood academically that a Master would gain more knowledge through the research they perform, this becoming a "Doctor" in that field, but if their research is flawed, incorrect, or misunderstood, them their knowledge is also flawed and incorrect. Yet, they wouldn't necessarily know it unless there's someone willing to tell them.

Today's academic culture isn't about truth, though, so a lot of these Ph, S holders are running around being touted as experts when they're really miseducated. The problem is they don't know they're miseducated and have fooled themselves because the people who awarded their Ph, D never did the research into their student's work trying to prove them wrong. If the dissertation "LOOKS" convincing enough, sounds convincing enough, either "seems" or "feels" correct, they'll be awarded. At the current modern University and College level, these Professors don't have the time to properly and accurately check and re-check and verify their students' research because they themselves are doing extensive research, while writing a book and teaching their own potentially flawed theses and research to burgeoning future professionals in their own disciplines. It's why people see & hear these "highly educated" talking heads all over the place and think, "Wow! That one is an idiot!"

The other problem is that because of what I just explained, if everyone understands the process of awarding these fake credentials, no one with any real discernment would accept their words as "truth" or properly reasoned out logic.

He actually talked me out of ever finishing college because I came to realize that a lot of what people understand about the world today is just flat out wrong. A lot of what they teach isn't true at all, yet these Ph, D holders will flock to the defense of their fellow Ph, D holders regardless of whether their research is correct in order to maintain the status quo. This is part of the reason why our world is so screwed up and topsy-turvy today. We have a vast majority of our society believing things that just aren't true when researched and reasoned out properly.

Sure, there's a lot of things that are true, when it comes to the technical disciplines like programming, engineering, etc. But when it comes to the Social "Sciences," medicine, and some aspects of the Physical Sciences, the information being presented as truthful or correct (settled) is flawed and therefore incorrect.

Be VERY CAREFUL of believing what any Ph, D holder tells you when it comes to their "expertise." Chances are, what they say is flawed thinking made to look true and they may not even be aware of that.