[kgwgk]

From an article of his published a few days ago:

  In my parody article, “Transgressing the Boundaries: Towards a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity” (Sokal 1996), I wrote as part of my conclusion:
 
  [P]ostmodern science provides a powerful refutation of the authoritarianism and elitism inherent in traditional science, as well as an empirical basis for a democratic approach to scientific work. For, as Bohr noted, “a complete elucidation of one and the same object may require diverse points of view which defy a unique description” – this is quite simply a fact about the world, much as the self­proclaimed empiricists of modernist science might prefer to deny it. In such a situation, how can a self­perpetuating secular priesthood of credentialed “scientists” purport to maintain a monopoly on the production of scientific knowledge? (Sokal 1996, 229)

  [...]

  Alas, Prescod­Weinstein makes a similar bald leap at the beginning of her article – albeit this time, apparently, in all seriousness. Her claim is based on general relativity rather than quantum mechanics, but the structure of the logic is almost identical:

  Albert Einstein’s monumental contribution to our empirical understanding of gravity is rooted in the principle of covariance, which is the simple idea that there is no single objective frame of reference that is more objective than any other. All frames of reference, all observers, are equally competent and capable of observing the universal laws that underlie the workings of our physical universe. Yet the number of women in physics remains low, especially those of African descent. The gender imbalance between Black women and Black men is less severe than in many professions, but the disparity remains. ... Black women must, according to Einstein’s principle of covariance, have an equal claim to objectivity regardless of their simultaneously experiencing intersecting axes of oppression ... (Prescod­Weinstein 2020, 422–423, references omitted)

“White Empiricism” and “The Racialization of Epistemology in Physics”: A Critical Analysis https://journalofcontroversialideas.org/article/3/2/260

[kergonath]

Fucking hell! I don’t have much sympathy for Sokal but that article he’s criticising is something else. I had to check that it was not a hoax itself. I still cannot decide whether she’s more likely to be a troll or a useful idiot. Or how someone can apparently work in astrophysics whithout having a clue about relativity.