On Fabricating Academic Credentials

Etymologically, the word “credential” derives from “credit” and is related to the moral attribute of credibility. An academic credential reflects a student’s academic knowledge and expertise, with which he becomes qualified for performing certain professional responsibilities at certain professional positions. Academic credentials shouldn’t be falsified because false credentials are dangerous. For example, a medical graduate with false credentials can kill his patients rather than rescuing them.

Currently, fabricating academic credentials is particularly rampant in China, where all recruitments seem to involve credentials. In order to secure the job they want, some job seekers without the required credentials have no alternative but to have them fabricated by professional forgers. While condemning users of fake credentials on both legal and moral grounds, we somehow tend to sympathize with them as they are victimized by a society addicted to the credential mania.

A more despicable form of credential fabrication is perpetrated by those already highly successful people—businessmen, entrepreneurs, government officials, celebrities in the entertainment industry, etc. They use false credentials not so much to advance their careers as to project their personal image as an icon. This is a greater evil because those fabricators contrive, through fraudulence, to secure our admiration and respect on the spiritual level. A most notorious case is the scandal of TxxJxx, who pretends to be a role model for innocent Chinese youth, with false Ph.D. credential from a non-existent American university.

To solve this problem, a combination of measures is necessary. We should evaluate a person by his true caliber, not solely by his credentials. Legally, we should crack down on both the seller and the buyer of false credentials. Finally, we should keep exposing and denouncing fabricators so they can no longer fool us. In this way, our society will become purified and credibility will ultimately prevail.

                                          论学历造假


        从词源学上讲，学历“credential”一词源于“credit”（信誉）, 与诚信这一德行相关。一份学历所反映的，是一个学生的学识与专长；有了这二者，他就有资质去在特定的专业岗位上履行特定的专业职责。对于学历，不应弄虚作假，因为虚假的学历贻害无穷。举例来说，一个拥有虚假学历的医科毕业生，更有可能将其病人置于死地，而非挽救其生命。

目前，学历造假在我国尤为猖獗。在中国，所有的人才招聘似乎无不涉及到文凭。为了获得他们梦寐以求的工作，有些并不拥有必要学历的求职者，只能转而求助于职业制假者，请他们伪造文凭。虽然我们会基于法律和道德的理由去谴责这些购买和使用假冒文凭的人，但我们仍然会对他们怀有某种恻隐之心，因为他们也是这个唯文凭是论的国度的牺牲品。

有一种更为卑鄙的文凭造假，造假者是那些早已功成名就的人士——商人、企业家、政府官员、娱乐界名人等等。他们不亦乐乎地进行学历造假，以其说是为了谋取职业发展，还不如说是为了构筑他们个人形象。供大众进行偶像崇拜。这是一种更为严重的恶行，因为这些造假者，通过欺世盗名的手段，处心积虑地要攫取我们精神层面上对他们的钦佩与尊敬。一个最臭名昭著的案例便是某个TJ君所爆出的丑闻，此君将自己伪装一个角色榜样，接受某些成胸无城府、涉世不深的中国青年的膜拜，而手里握着的，则是某个子虚乌有的美国大学的所谓博士文凭！

要解决这个问题，关键是需要多管齐下。我们在衡量一个人时，应以其实际能力为标准，而非仅看他的文凭。在法律上，我们应该对假学历的制售者和购买者一并实施打击。我们应一如既往地揭露和谴责文凭造假者，让其不再能蒙骗我们。这样一来，我们的社会环境将得到净化，诚信终将占据上风。