Miles Mathis on the decline of public participation in Scientific Debate in North America
In a paper first published on 13th December 2018, artist-critic Miles Mathis draws attention to early journals of the Scientific American, which featured a significantly higher level of quality when it came to discourse, and lively and genuine public participation in Scientific Debates of that time, in the form of letters to the editor (and replies to the same). What is ironic is that the Internet was supposed to contribute to the same by breaking down communication barriers. But instead we seem to have regressed. Our attention spans are now fairly limited, and our time is strictly budgeted.