system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
What makes a philosopher a philosopher?

What I'm asking is, what is the difference between a philosopher and a layperson?

Also how can a layperson become a philosopher without formal education in philosophy?
gpt
An academic philosopher requires a PhD and/or a job at an academic institution and/or publications in academic journals. This is a job with entry qualifications and specific teaching/research tasks. 

Laypeople have better or worse philosophical thinking abilities, e.g. clear and critical thinking, comprehension of ideas and arguments, argumentation skills, etc. That makes some of them more philosophically inclined than others, so in a sense they are better at philosophy than others. More engagement with the subject is required though to make them philosophers. 

Sometimes people have musings about life, the universe and everything, but their way of thinking about these things is not necessarily philosophically robust nor do they engage with other philosophically works. They may think of themselves as philosophers but that may be overreaching.