The Anti-Relativity Movement

America's embrace of Einstein stood in stark contrast to the treatment he was getting at home. Right-wing relativity deniers, like modern American climate science deniers, mounted ad hominem attacks against Einstein and his theory, which they loudly branded a "hoax." They were led by an engineer named Paul Weyland, who formed a small but mysteriously well-funded group that held anti-relativity rallies around Germany, denouncing the theory's "Jewish nature," and culminating in a major event at...

 Social Goals of Web Science

There are two important epistemological questions for Web Science. The first is what properties will future platforms need to have in order to allow as much information as possible to gravitate to the Web without imposing structure or governing theories upon it? One aim of the Web is to facilitate rational discussion of ideas, rather than the sorts of rancorous ad hominem attacks that make up rather too much of what is loosely called debate [30]. And secondly, the Web has a radically decen...