Not only do outsiders need endorsement, even if you get one, the arxiv is curated. I don't know why people assume it's just totally wide open like any random pe

Not only do outsiders need endorsement, even if you get one, the arxiv is curated. I don't know why people assume it's just totally wide open like any random person can publish anything to it? It would be inundated with junk! If you're a member of a recognized academic institution (as determined by email address I think?) then you can skip the endorsement step.