Okay, so Seismological Research Letters (SRL) has a new deputy editor-in-chief. Big deal. Like anyone outside of, like, three seismologists even knows what that is. Let's be real.
Another Bureaucrat in the Ivory Tower?
Allison Bent, the Editor-in-Chief, is quoted as saying Yang's "dedication, thoughtfulness and good judgment" will serve him well. Oh, please. That's PR-speak for "he showed up on time to meetings and didn't drool on himself." And "fresh ideas about how to maintain or increase SRL’s growth"? What growth? Is this some kind of for-profit seismology journal I don't know about?
Yang himself says something about "effectively engag[ing] and appropriately recogniz[ing] high-quality reviewers." Translation: "We need to bribe people to read this stuff." I mean, let's be honest, who's exactly lining up to review articles on, uh, "subduction zone dynamics"? Sounds thrilling.
And then there's the bit about "cultivat[ing] strong author communities and broaden[ing] the journal’s readership." Good luck with that, buddy. You're dealing with rocks and earthquakes, not cat videos and TikTok dances.
I swear, reading this press release is like watching paint dry. It's all so…academic. So detached from reality. So utterly pointless to 99.999% of the human population.
The Endless Pursuit of…More Seismology?
Yang's "looking forward" to papers with "new observations and methods in seismology, as well as applications of seismic and geophysics methods in fields out of seismology." Oh, so he wants to expand seismology's reach? Why? Is there a seismology lobby I don't know about? Are they trying to take over the world, one seismic wave at a time?
Look, I get it. People are passionate about their fields. But let's not pretend this is some earth-shattering (pun intended) development. It's a minor reshuffling of deck chairs on the Titanic of academic publishing.
I bet half these journals are just vanity projects anyway.
It reminds me of this time I ordered a pizza from this place, and they messed up the order three times. Like, how hard is it to put pepperoni on a pizza? Seriously. They expect us to believe this nonsense, and honestly...
Who Actually Reads This Stuff?
Okay, maybe I'm being too harsh. Maybe there's a real need for this kind of specialized research. But who's actually reading it? Other seismologists? And what are they doing with it? Predicting earthquakes? Because last time I checked, that's still more art than science.
And this SRL journal page at the SSA website...doesn't even exist. I clicked the link. Error 404. Nice. offcourse, the actual SSA site works fine, but still.
Maybe I'm just jaded. Maybe I'm missing the bigger picture. Then again, maybe this whole thing is just a giant, self-congratulatory circle jerk for people who get paid to study rocks.
So, What's the Point?
It's academia doing what academia does best: patting itself on the back for doing things that nobody else cares about. Give me a break.