an old friend wrote:
except as a matter of refernece?

after all the rules ae different and the nature odf radio ham or
otherwise is defferent?

how hard should the teste be?

as hard as they need to be to produce hams able to deal the ARS TODAY
no harder no easier

It merely grants bragging rights, and the option of claiming that ham X
is more of a ham than ham Y. It also leads to the belief that "Since I
had to march uphill both ways through the snow and drought, with
cardboard in the sole of my shoes, you must do it too."