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> You post an article about open societies and then I can't access it without subscribing - LOL While I also dislike being forced to subscribe to read somethi

> You post an article about open societies and then I can't access it without subscribing - LOL While I also dislike being forced to subscribe to read something, free access to publications and open society are completely different things. After all, you had open societies before the digital age, when the vast majority of newspapers were paid. Obviously, the two are linked, but I'm not even sure whether gratis access to all journalism encourages an open society or discourages it. (You can imagine just-so stories for either case: 1. free access to articles → everyone can read them → better informed society → open society 2. free access to articles → high quality journalism goes out of business as they have to compete against zero-cost alternatives → misinformed (or even deliberately disinformed) society → people less likely to fight for openness. )

VvR-Ox 8y ago
> ... free access to publications and open society are completely different things Of course they are and it wasn't my intention to mix them up but as you also noted they are connected somehow. > 2. free access to articles → high quality journalism goes out of business as they have to compete against zero-cost alternatives → misinformed (or even deliberately disinformed) society → people less likely to fight for openness. This can be right in the capitalistic framework many have to live in and deal with. On the other hand this encourages people to write what is sold best / for the highest price. You can see how damaged the scientific publication system is as organizations and individual scientists are rated by how many articles (quantity not quality) they publish and where they are published (artificial reputation vs. real value). I am convinced that everything must be open to really pave the way towards an open society. The problem with this ATM is just the capitalistic framework. Peoples sole purpose in life is earning enough money to not perish before kind of a natural death occurs [which is also connected to amount of money you have]. The need to enslave yourself without purpose just to exist and the reality that success can be easily achieved just by making money somehow (quality doesn't matter and in most cases is punished because you don't earn enough margin) does not foster quality in any way. Same goes for writing in my opinion. Better to read something from someone who is really dedicated and interested in the topic than some mercenary writer.

VvR-Ox 8y ago

> ... free access to publications and open society are completely different things Of course they are and it wasn't my intention to mix them up but as you also noted they are connected somehow. > 2. free access to articles → high quality journalism goes out of business as they have to compete against zero-cost alternatives → misinformed (or even deliberately disinformed) society → people less likely to fight for openness. This can be right in the capitalistic framework many have to live in and deal with. On the other hand this encourages people to write what is sold best / for the highest price. You can see how damaged the scientific publication system is as organizations and individual scientists are rated by how many articles (quantity not quality) they publish and where they are published (artificial reputation vs. real value). I am convinced that everything must be open to really pave the way towards an open society. The problem with this ATM is just the capitalistic framework. Peoples sole purpose in life is earning enough money to not perish before kind of a natural death occurs [which is also connected to amount of money you have]. The need to enslave yourself without purpose just to exist and the reality that success can be easily achieved just by making money somehow (quality doesn't matter and in most cases is punished because you don't earn enough margin) does not foster quality in any way. Same goes for writing in my opinion. Better to read something from someone who is really dedicated and interested in the topic than some mercenary writer.