
Hossenfelder vs Goff: Debate About Electrons Sparks Social Media!
The public has not suddenly become interested in whether electrons exist. Rather, more people are using new media for an increasingly broad array of purposes.It says a lot about how media are changing that panpsychist philosophy professor Philip Goff and theoretical physicist Sabine Hossenfelder were in a bit of a verbal tussle at X (formerly Twitter) recently on whether electrons really exist. That sort of debate once inhabited historic lecture rooms, exalted think tanks, and the better science magazines. Now, the public has not suddenly become interested in whether electrons exist. Rather, more people are using new media for an increasingly broad array of purposes. X is no longer just a place where a poorly thought out remark on a sensitive subject can ruin a career. The discussion was definitely not a Twitter troll flame war. It was more like this: We can't observe Read More ›