The Shameful Decline of Scientific American
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Re: The Shameful Decline of Scientific American
#2Reposting my comment from the E.O. Wilson thread from a couple of weeks ago,
"As a reader of the magazine for the past 35 years or so, Scientific American, the print publication, has devolved into what Popular Science was about 20 years ago. Sensationalist headlines, writing geared towards a much lower reading comprehension level and the introduction of politics and opinion in various articles. A sad state of affairs for a once great publication, unfortunately.
However, the mantle has been taken up by online publications such as Quanta, Aeon, Edge and Nautilus, as well as various science authors on Medium and Substack."
Re: The Shameful Decline of Scientific American
#3I keep hoping that we reach and pass Peak Woke, but I think we're still not there. Journalism (capital J) has been thoroughly damaged by it, as is evident in so many magazines, newspapers, sites, channels, etc.
I'm optimistic that there will be a renaissance of objective Journalism, and eager for it to happen.
Re: The Shameful Decline of Scientific American
#4Related or maybe the same: https://scottaaronson.blog/?p=6202
Re: The Shameful Decline of Scientific American
#5Reposting my comment from the E.O. Wilson thread from a couple of weeks ago, "As a reader of the magazine for the past 35 years or so, Scientific American, the print publication, has devolved into what Popular Science was about 20 years ago. Sensationalist headlines, writing geared towards a much lower reading comprehension level and the introduction of politics and opinion in various articles. A sad state of affairs…
I definitely have been reading a lot more from alternative sources such as the ones you mentioned. I also would say that the democratization of journalism is really important today because of the politicization of so many institutions, including virtually all traditional media outlets like Scientific American. The threat to heterodox thinking isn’t especially new either - Quillette recently reposted an interview of E.O. Wilson from 2009 by Alice Dreger that feels prescient in its coverage of the social/political dynamics that we see continuing today and underpinning recent hit pieces written about Wilson (https://quillette.com/2021/12/29/speaking-with-e-o-wilson/).
Re: The Shameful Decline of Scientific American
#6Some of their pieces on the blog site read completely like satire (unfortunately they are not), it baffles me how a sane person can write something like that https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/fat-is-not...
tldr it's because the oppression
Re: The Shameful Decline of Scientific American
#7Reposting my comment from the E.O. Wilson thread from a couple of weeks ago, "As a reader of the magazine for the past 35 years or so, Scientific American, the print publication, has devolved into what Popular Science was about 20 years ago. Sensationalist headlines, writing geared towards a much lower reading comprehension level and the introduction of politics and opinion in various articles. A sad state of affairs…
Thanks for that list.
I really miss the quality content that Scientific American had in their issue from the 70s and 80s.
Re: The Shameful Decline of Scientific American
#8Some of their pieces on the blog site read completely like satire (unfortunately they are not), it baffles me how a sane person can write something like that https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/fat-is-not... tldr it's because the oppression
I cracked up when I saw the name of the author to the link you posted. Some sort of comic joke or destiny.
Re: The Shameful Decline of Scientific American
#9Some of their pieces on the blog site read completely like satire (unfortunately they are not), it baffles me how a sane person can write something like that https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/fat-is-not... tldr it's because the oppression
"Focusing on weight—or health behaviors—puts the burden on the individual, deflecting attention from the more pernicious problem: systemic injustice."
Sounds like when I was a kid and said "the devil made me do it". Taking responsibility for our (in)actions is a necessary prerequisite for being an adult.
Re: The Shameful Decline of Scientific American
#10Some of their pieces on the blog site read completely like satire (unfortunately they are not), it baffles me how a sane person can write something like that https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/fat-is-not... tldr it's because the oppression
"Focusing on weight—or health behaviors—puts the burden on the individual, deflecting attention from the more pernicious problem: systemic injustice." Sounds like when I was a kid and said "the devil made me do it". Taking responsibility for our (in)actions is a necessary prerequisite for being an adult.
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