I don’t place much importance in titles, but other people do. If we want to look at these points in another way, consider the struggle of trans people, and how pronouns are a subject of legislation and acrimony in places like Texas, Florida, Mississippi, and so forth.
Acknowledging trans peoples’ preferred pronouns–without judging them for it–goes a long way toward benefitting their mental health, and if we should do this for trans people, then we should do this (within reason) for everybody.
Please note that this doesn’t mean that I think I should address someone as “doctor” when they are a high school dropout . . . although I might still address a high school dropout as “doctor” if they received an honorary degree from an educational institution. I have also addressed a Lakota Native American shaman/medicine man as “doctor” even though he had little formal schooling, as he was involved in a project with a drug company that was researching traditional herbal medicines. He also volunteered at a poison control center, and was credited with saving the lives of children by helping to identify poisonous plants that they had ingested. This was because he not only knew the plants, but where they grew, during what time of year, and so forth.
Also, some titles are unreasonably long. Charles II, the Habsburg king of Spain had–as his titles–the following:
By the Grace of God, King of Castile, of León, of Aragon, of the Two Sicilies, of Jerusalem, of Hungary, of Dalmatia, of Croatia, of Navarre, of Granada, of Toledo, of Valencia, of Galicia, of Mallorca, of Seville, of Sardinia, of Córdoba, of Corsica, of Murcia, of Jaén, of the Algarves, of Algeciras, of the Canary …
And so on, as this is only a partial list. Using his full titles and pronouns every time someone wanted to talk to him would probably make a conversation impossible.
And as I believe that the world is in trouble, I would rather build bridges than walls, and addressing people by their preferred titles and pronouns is a part of this.
Please see below:
As another point about titles, there is (low key and understated) acrimony in the hospitals about titles. I know any number of nurses who have a PhD in nursing, yet physicians don’t want to address them as “doctor” within the hospital because “it may create confusion with the patients” . . . yet someone who has a PhD in chemistry or physics gets to be addressed as “doctor.” There is a very similar acrimony toward chiropractors, as physicians often refuse to address them as “doctor” as well, and physicians seem to get irritated when other people address chiropractors as “doctor.”