Just for everyone's reference, there is no requirement that the PE who signs off for you must have taken the same test as you.

http://www.tbpe.state.tx.us/li...

Point out the 16 years of experience requirement, please.

Yes and no. There should be barriers to entry for professions where lives are on the line.

Frankly, getting a PE license is not difficult, provided you are not a totally shitty engineer.

This is less of an issue than you make it out to be. I got my PE license with the computer engineering test, and I'd happily sign off on somebody taking the software engineering exam. I would have taken the software engineering PE exam, except it was not offered in my stated at the time (Texas). Coincidentally, Texas was the first to offer that exam.

What replacement?

I see this line of reasoning often, and it's a case of projecting one's values and way of thought on others, assuming they reason in the same way you do. You are making too many equivocations.

That's called cognitive dissonance, and it's not restricted to Americans.

Perhaps it wasn't your purpose, but your post smacks of what characterizes American-style anti-intellectualism. You argue that any pursuit of knowledge that does not have immediate practical application should be eschewed in favor of more pressing matters.

Where would we be if out of the box thinking were suppressed?

Obvious response- his father didn't consume enough B9.

There was a war between the two in 1979 regarding Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge (Communist government of Cambodia) made the mistake of attacking battle hardened Vietnam, and the Vietnamese responded by invading and taking over Cambodia. Cambodia's communist government was supported by China, and tacitly by the USA, so China decided to teach Vietnam a lesson for interfering. One positive byproduct of the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia was to stop the genocide of counter-revolutionaries.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Vietnamese_War

My anecdotal experiences contradict your statement.

Consider doctors must slog their way through 4 years med school, 4 years residency, 2 years or so of fellowship, ~200K of student debt, and the threat of lowering wages due to healthcare reforms. All that, and they don't start their career in earnest until around age 32.

Most likely, doctors don't put up with that unless they want to help others to some degree. If they are driven purely by greed, there are other lucrative careers with more immediate earning potential- banking, law.

I saw him perform in Austin around 2002. My Taiwanese gf and I had a jolly good time. Even better was overhearing guys in another band gripe about how Wesley Willis pulled in more fans than them.

Not a bright idea for a certification/license exam.

Because I'm not as intellectually complacent as you.

Perhaps so, but why can't people think of more creative arguments rather than the crass obvious?