The whole PhD discussion reminds me of “The Princess Bride”, when Inigo offers to give his word as a Spaniard, and Westley refuses - “No good. I’ve known too many Spaniards!”

When I see some obvious bullshit, be it Creationism, HIV Denialism, Climate Denialism, or Antivaxxers, with a PhD spewing it, I think, “No good! I’ve known too many PhDs!”

Not to disparage PhDs, but I’ve known too many who weren’t good at critical thinking, who couldn’t design an experiment correctly, and who weren’t any good at figuring out what the data actually tell you.