Special Comment: The "Sokal Squared" Hoax and the Academic Cult

I have a conversation with a friend in the scientific field about the recently exposed "Sokal Squared" academic hoax, by which three junior professors concocted a series of intentionally absurd, nonsensical articles and had several of them accepted into respectable academic journals. What are the implications of their success? Is "theory" or "postmodernism" to blame? The lax standards of humanities journals? The drive to "publish or perish" in academia? Does the problem extend to social science or "hard science" fields? And what should be done about it? We try to sort through the confusing picture, and I recommend possible responses, such as the inclusion of non-academics in the peer-review process.

The Hoaxsters' report on their "experiment" -- areomagazine.com/2018/10/02/acade…-of-scholarship/

Recommended Further Reading: William Clark, "Academic Charisma and the Origins of the Research University"

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