The Sokal Hoax (opens in new tab)

(en.wikipedia.org)

19 pointsekglimmer8y ago4 comments

4 comments

4 comments · 2 top-level

tomlock8y ago· 1 in thread

I think Sokal inadvertently provided the first in a wave of critiques of academic publishing - not necessarily just of this specific "fashion" on the left. We now know from numerous studies that even in scientific journals publishing standards aren't as rigorous/objective as we'd like.

ekglimmerOP8y ago

That's what I found interesting about this too, there is a whole rabbit-hole of similar 'experiments' or what have you that people did after learning about Sokal. Another wikipedia page is devoted entirely to scholarly publishing stings (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_scholarly_publishing_s...). They took place across all of academia, and like you say, end up proving that even the scientific journals are not as rigorous as we may like or think.

Nzen8y ago· 1 in thread

tl;dr Alan Sokal, US based physics professor, convinced _Social Text_ , a postmodern-focused academic journal, to publish a fraudulent article in 1995. When appraised, the editors noted that they urged him to let them edit it, as they considered it poorly written. Sokal argued their acquiescence, without consulting another physicist, meant they were asleep at the wheel, despite the discomfort.

ekglimmerOP8y ago

These publishing stings have occurred across many fields. I believe this is just the most famous one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_scholarly_publishing_s...

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4 comments

4 comments · 2 top-level

tomlock8y ago· 1 in thread

I think Sokal inadvertently provided the first in a wave of critiques of academic publishing - not necessarily just of this specific "fashion" on the left. We now know from numerous studies that even in scientific journals publishing standards aren't as rigorous/objective as we'd like.

ekglimmerOP8y ago

That's what I found interesting about this too, there is a whole rabbit-hole of similar 'experiments' or what have you that people did after learning about Sokal. Another wikipedia page is devoted entirely to scholarly publishing stings (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_scholarly_publishing_s...). They took place across all of academia, and like you say, end up proving that even the scientific journals are not as rigorous as we may like or think.

Nzen8y ago· 1 in thread

tl;dr Alan Sokal, US based physics professor, convinced _Social Text_ , a postmodern-focused academic journal, to publish a fraudulent article in 1995. When appraised, the editors noted that they urged him to let them edit it, as they considered it poorly written. Sokal argued their acquiescence, without consulting another physicist, meant they were asleep at the wheel, despite the discomfort.

ekglimmerOP8y ago

These publishing stings have occurred across many fields. I believe this is just the most famous one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_scholarly_publishing_s...

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse