california is what happens when you reach the western edge of the world by chasing the sun. very icarus like energy. a particular solar type of madness
Scientific publishing is now an industry. Students write to graduate. Academics publish to survive. Journals accept to profit. Everyone’s producing, but almost nobody is reading.
When did it change from the creation of knowledge to a thriving business sector, in which shady actors operate?
We condemn paper mills as parasites, yet they arere only mimicking what the system rewards — speed, volume, and the illusion of impact.
To really understand a concept, you have to "invent" it yourself in some capacity. Understanding doesn't come from passive content consumption. It is always self-built. It is an active, high-agency, self-directed process of creating and debugging your own mental models.