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POSTMODERNISM THEORY AND THE ALAN SOKAL HOAX
Fed up with denials of reality and the downplaying of scientific evidence by postmodernism intellectuals insistent on promulgating claptrap about the “social construction of reality,” Alan Sokal, a New York University physicist, decided to try a little experiment to determine whether or not postmodern relativists had any ability to recognize pure, unadulterated bullshit when it hit them in the face.
Sokal wrote an article titled, “Transgressing the boundaries: Towards a transformative hermeneutics of quantum gravity.” He submitted it to the well-known postmodern cultural studies journal, Social Text. The 35-page article was a hoax, full of wooly postmodernism theory jargon and scientific-sounding absurdities about the implications of quantum physics on social culture, and the role of postmodern science. The bafflegab and the scientific credibility of the author impressed the editors of Social Text. They did not bother to have the article reviewed by scientists who would have known immediately that it was ludicrous twaddle from beginning to end. Instead, Social Text published the article—even though they could not possibly have had any understanding of it, since it was meaningless.