A certificate tells you that requirements were met, not which ideas remained alive afterward.

A certificate records completion. It says the requirements were met by a certain date and says nothing about what stayed with the person, which ideas they still turn over, what they now do differently. The durable part of an education is exactly the part no document captures.

When you finish any course, write down the two or three things you actually want to keep. That page will be more useful in five years than the qualification. And when you assess someone’s background, ask what they found interesting rather than what they completed.