Asking stupid questions

So, a stupid question arose today in a discussion about what would be a plausible defense by a scam artist.

Question: Did Nanox CEO graduate from Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, or not?

Checking English-language internet sources left me confused.  This one says he only attended the Academy, that is, he did not graduate.  Another one says he received a Degree in Industrial Design there.

In a November 2020 blog post, the CEO states:

When I submit my bio (prior to lectures or interviews), my educational background often surprises people. I do not have a degree in machine engineering, computer engineering, or in any type of engineering for that matter. I studied arts and design at the Bezalel Academy of Arts in Jerusalem.

So, he did not graduate, after all?

According to a Muddy Waters report,

Charismatic CEO Poliakine appears to have no formal training in radiology, physics or medicine—or to have even finished college. His only academic credentials seem to be a two-year stint he spent at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design. Our investigators contacted a Bezalel administrator who confirmed that he did not graduate (page 42)

In his blog post he essentially describes himself as a modern Leonardo Da Vinci, "the great artist and innovator," but with the inclination to ask stupid questions:

This is something I do all the time: go into new areas and ask stupid questions. I have no choice: I am not an established scientist or a researcher with formal education. So I go in and ask the kind of questions that people who’ve been in this field for a while would not consider asking. 

Essentially, he is paraphrasing Meredith Perry of the fraud uBeam (now, SonicEnergy).  The problem in the real world, of course, is that if people take time to answer all the stupid questions, there is no time left for anything else.

It is a great defense, though  - I did not know what I was signing or talking about - I am an artist.  And an artist is allowed to pretend to be something more:

I am a technologist. I want to tell you about the technology of Nanox... (02:05 in the RSNA 2020 demo)

 

And then to lie outright that Wilhelm Roentgen used a hot filament to discover X-rays (Nanox own technology white paper, published just a few days prior, states that the hot filament was introduced by GE's Coolidge, many years after Roentgen's discovery)... 

The dictionary seems to define technologist as an expert in a particular field of technology, not just an artist.