See TheWizardOfOz.  In that story, the scarecrow was told that he didn't need a brain, he just needed a diploma, which the wizard then awarded.  It was meant to be a humorous jab at those who think that diplomas make one smart.  I'm sorry if it misfired.  (moved here by DavidSaff from a comment by RonJeffries in PatternOfBabel).

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'''Oz''': Why, anybody can have a brain. That's a very mediocre commodity. Every pusillanimous creature that crawls on the Earth or slinks through slimy seas has a brain. Back where I come from, we have universities, seats of great learning, where men go to become great thinkers. And when they come out, they think deep thoughts and with no more brains than you have. But they have one thing you haven't got: a diploma.

'''Oz''': So, by the power vested in me by the Universitatus Committeatum E Pluribus Unum, I hereby confer on you the honorary degree of Th.D.

'''Scarecrow''': Th.D?

'''Oz''': Yeah, uh, that's Doctor of Think-ology.

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A note: this conversation occurs in the American movie of the 1930's, but not in the classic novel by L. Frank Baum.