Acadamic Hoaxes and being Stuck in your culture
In 1956 this hoax was written up in the journal of the American Anthropological Association:
"Body Ritual among the Nacirema"
In 1996 another hoax was written in the postmodern journal "Social Text"
"Transgressing the Boundaries: Toward a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity"
"Body Ritual among the Nacirema"
In 1996 another hoax was written in the postmodern journal "Social Text"
"Transgressing the Boundaries: Toward a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity"
1 Comments:
I enjoyed reading both parodies. The first one was almost too obvious (probably meant to be). The second one, however, was very subtle. I know enough about the history and mechanics of quantum theory to have seen the problems with the paper. The author states later that anyone with a general knowledge of quantum mechanics would detect the parody. I'll vouch for that.
I wonder, though, if the scientific parody is an effective way to convey a message. The author, Sokal, stated that he submitted the paper because he was upset that certain media outlets were publishing bad science only because it was in line with their world view (read Intelligent Design). He certainly proved that the journal, Social Text, published papers without verification. However, to what end? I'm sure the publishers and editors were embarrassed, most likely angry, at the hoax; being caught with their pants down. But did the actions create change? Have the editors of Social Text changed their opinion? After all, the editors readily published an erroneous paper that simply promoted their agenda. In some areas, this is call "kennel blindness." Those that do, most likely will do again.
Of course, the other side is that most scientists are scientists and not satirists. An editor must not assume that the author of a scientific paper is out to get him (or perhaps he should. After all, this is a cruel world). There must be some assumed standard of integrity in the world of scientific publishing, if not on the side of the publisher, at least on the side of the author.
Well, the publisher and editors got burned. I'm sure they regrouped and vowed never to let that happen again. I'm sure they still have the same narrow world view; that they still publish papers that forward their views. However, I'm sure that the editors are much more diligent, having relearned one of the first basic lessons of life --- Cover Your Ass!
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