Self certifying with 'pro' should be taken with the same pinch of salt as my old 'self-certified' mortage used to be
Let's not be too scathing about the 'gifted amateur' though. Not everyone wants to do what they've good at as a full-time job. For instance there's a lot of fantastic artists & musicians who don't want the lifestyle that goes with doing that fulltime. Ditto trading weekend warriors I suspect. When it comes to assessing traders as a source of learning (rather than giving them a mortage), then for me a talented amateur with great teaching methods would win hands down over an average pro who couldn't teach for toffee.
The best example I can think of would be a guitar teacher, do you want to learn from a professional guiarist or from a professional guitar teacher? Because they don't earn millions, are they inferior?