Wonderful write-up, Michael. I vividly recall the hoax and my immense enjoyment as it played out amongst a cacophony of outraged harumphs and vituperative snorts. What glorious fun! Thanks for bringing back the fond memories.
I followed the Sokal hoax/affair back then and look back on it with great sadness. This was one of the last chances anyone involved in the Humanities (most esp in academia) had to confront, mock and dismantle the Deconstruction machine that has chewed through our culture and society, and yet it was mostly swept under the rug or treated as a humorous tempest in a teapot.
I think at the time people didn't take the postmodern post-Marxist threat seriously, it was just a cabal of angry weirdos best to steer clear of, and also any opposition to their fanatical "Foucault proved nothing exists but power!" cult never seemed worth the risk: even the slightest threat to their project is immediately met with screams of "Bigot!" or "Nazi!" and relentless personal and professional attacks.
I respect and admire Michael Shermer but I'm afraid he's a 20th-century thinker whistling past the 21st-century graveyard: the postmodernists have won, they control all our educational institutions and have seized the means of cultural production, there will be no dislodging them anytime soon and no return to liberal Enlightenment values as long as they reign.
The best we can hope for at this point is that there will be some large slabs of Enlightenment wisdom and scholarship left behind in the rubble once the Deconstruction machine breaks down, and we can use these to rebuild a sane society.
Wonderful write-up, Michael. I vividly recall the hoax and my immense enjoyment as it played out amongst a cacophony of outraged harumphs and vituperative snorts. What glorious fun! Thanks for bringing back the fond memories.
I followed the Sokal hoax/affair back then and look back on it with great sadness. This was one of the last chances anyone involved in the Humanities (most esp in academia) had to confront, mock and dismantle the Deconstruction machine that has chewed through our culture and society, and yet it was mostly swept under the rug or treated as a humorous tempest in a teapot.
I think at the time people didn't take the postmodern post-Marxist threat seriously, it was just a cabal of angry weirdos best to steer clear of, and also any opposition to their fanatical "Foucault proved nothing exists but power!" cult never seemed worth the risk: even the slightest threat to their project is immediately met with screams of "Bigot!" or "Nazi!" and relentless personal and professional attacks.
I respect and admire Michael Shermer but I'm afraid he's a 20th-century thinker whistling past the 21st-century graveyard: the postmodernists have won, they control all our educational institutions and have seized the means of cultural production, there will be no dislodging them anytime soon and no return to liberal Enlightenment values as long as they reign.
The best we can hope for at this point is that there will be some large slabs of Enlightenment wisdom and scholarship left behind in the rubble once the Deconstruction machine breaks down, and we can use these to rebuild a sane society.
Apologies for the gloom.