That’s hardly an applicable analogy. Surgeons can make whatever community they like as pertains to surgery. Within their own field–people who have already mastered surgery and are using that skill well and ethically–they’d be well advised not to impose additional restrictions. But it’s understood they had to pass the basics, the mediums, and even the extremely difficults and have obtained that mastery.
Unless BBS is an exclusive club catering to people employed in life-or-death scenarios, Medievalist has a very relevant point.
Every additional hurdle you put up on the front end will keep an increasing percentage out. I’d agree with you on the basic idea that there are some people we’d like to cut off at the front door and say “nope, don’t need your contribution” for. Beyond a certain point, though, and we’re keeping new potential out of the community.
We certainly don’t (intentionally anyway) put an overwhelming bar on elementary education on the merits that the wrong sort of people might one day end up slipping into a surgeon qualification one day.
So we pick a bar somewhere between the two. For my money, I’d put it closer to say 9th grade. But whatever that bar is, if it’s too high, some of the people you’d kill to have here just won’t bother. If you’re anywhere near that level, you guarantee the community will eventually die due to attrition.
