In a reversal of cause and effect characteristic of social alchemy, the educational institution confers, not just a certificate of technical competence giving one the right to a particular job, but a pass to a job in which the major portion of the necessary technical competence is often acquired on the job.

The magic of the academic title rests on a power held and exploited by all groups, the power to act upon bodies through the symbolic efficacy of signs. Whether dignifying or dubious distinctions, public criticism or praise, the solemn verdicts of socially recognized authorities as predictions vested with the authority of officialdom, tend to produce what the predict, both benedictions and maledictions being equally fatal.