As you may variously know it the sokal hoax, sokal squared or grievance studies affair is a relatively long running project that examined the ability to perpetuate unsubstantiated, unfounded or poor research in cultural studies. The project members,…
As you may variously know it the sokal hoax, sokal squared or grievance studies affair is a relatively long running project that examined the ability to perpetuate unsubstantiated, unfounded or poor research in cultural studies. The project members, Lindsay, Boghosian and Pluckrose feel that these fields are destroying themselves and trying to take more rigorous academia with it. They particularly focused on gender studies, race and sexuality.
An area that has been in the media ever more frequently. Whether you look at the Harvard lawsuit, the Me Too movement or the Damore/ Google memo. These all rely heavily on research stemming from or directly in these fields. If the research underpinning the policies and procedures in place is built on bad research it stands to reason that the policies and procedures are bad or fundamentally flawed.
The bigger concern stems from the fact that the collaborators feel that this corrupted area of academia will impugn student education overall. Some of the portents of this are being seen in universities where parts of speech are being censored. Examples of this include academic free thought to investigate controversial topics and students right to freely use sarcasm. Sarcasm may be the lowest form of wit but you need to begin from somewhere.
These acts to limit free expression and enquiry come from research published in the same journals that this project targeted. The same journals that that invited extreme content contributors to provide review which would direct future work. Journals that praised the quality of research not knowing it was fake or what it truly derived from. Echo chambers of grievances; ideas chewed over and over until they make the mind and body ill.
Peer review, the scientific method and accountability are pillars of research which make modern research work. On the current path we will return to the days of the Spanish inquisition. There may be a point at which all researchers are forced to follow the example of Galileo and rescind published research on the basis of hurt feelings not erroneous research. When that occurs work will be vetted for consistency with canon not fact. That will be the day the strongest elements of research fall.
The ease with which these outlandish arguments was accepted should be the last warning bell as we have been seeing and hearing the signs for more than 20 years now.
Relevant links:
The sokal affair
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokal_affair
Salt sprinkling meme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgDwiCP0PTA
Train wreck video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCZKDuDdnh8
List of scholarly stings
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_scholarly_publishing_stings#Interdisciplinary_and_cultural_studies
Universities ban sarcasm
http://caldronpool.com/several-australian-universities-ban-sarcasm-because-its-a-form-of-violence/
Mike Nayna video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVk9a5Jcd1k
Project information link (Google drive)
http://bit.ly/2OsWnnH
