Bringing it back on topic, I'd say that it's surprising that all these Bitcoin Classic folks believe such tripe, but in the context of all the other incompetent nonsense they believe, it doesn't seem so surprising.
It's too technical for most people to understand, and people prefer the title of "Chief Scientist" over "Staff".
The Irony is no one give a hoot about a title, but money should be easy to understand, whose the target market if it's more complicated than our existing fiat system.