"Rooter-2": the incident is ruined

By publishing the material of the executive secretary of the Scientific Editorial Council of Tomsk State University, Dmitry Katunin, we hope to thereby draw a line in the story of “Korchevatel-2”. Let me summarize the opinions expressed as a result of heated discussions.

About the text by V.B. Rhodes “Darwinism”

The spectrum of points of view extends from “complete nonsense, which, unfortunately, was not composed by a computer, but by a person” to “a talented provocation that parodies creationism.” Biologists who know the material tend to favor the first option: too many factual errors and ignorance.

On the admissibility of publishing such texts

On the one hand, pluralism of opinions is a useful thing, ideological censorship is unacceptable, the text is not a scientific work, but a philosophical essay - why not publish it to spark a discussion (the point of view of the editor of the philosophical “Bulletin of TSU”). There is a very compelling objection to this: the inadmissibility of publication lies not in ideology, but in the abundance of glaring errors and in the author’s ignorance of the main subject of the article. The reliability of the material is a requirement for any publication in any self-respecting publication, be it even “Motorist’s Companion”.

About the April Fool's draw "Korchevatel-2"

Opinions are again polar (unlike “Rooter-1”, which was received almost with a bang). Again, biologists, who were outraged by the ignorance of “Darwinism,” en masse supported “Korchevatel-2.” An obvious flaw in the action: the authors did not understand that “Vestnik TSU” and “Vestnik GTU. Philosophy. Sociology. Political Science" - different publications published by different people. The apology for this mistake was made in detail on Polit.ru and was not clearly expressed in TrV. Taking this opportunity, as the editor-in-chief, I apologize to the editorial team of TSU Bulletin for the mistake made on the pages of TRV.

Main consequences of the publication:

— The scientific and editorial council of TSU adopted quite adequate organizational measures (even before the publication of “Rooter-2”).

- It will indeed be more difficult to publish a crazy text in any publication - the story sounded loud enough.

“However, it will be more difficult to publish an “ideologically unverified” text, even if there are no factual mistakes in it, which is one of the costs of a violent reaction to “Darwinism.”

Is the entire network of TSU Vestniks responsible for the publication of Darwinism? Perhaps similar to what people bear for the actions of their adult offspring or brothers. Therefore, I really don’t want the story that happened to prevent the thematic bulletins of TSU from being included in the list of the Higher Attestation Commission.

With this, let me consider the incident to be settled and draw a line under the corresponding controversy on the pages of TrV.

Boris Stern