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The phenomenon is certainly nothing new (see Sayre's Law). People are petty, awful, wonderful, magnificent creatures...and everything in between.

The new thing is the tools that enable massive groups to mob together and fulfill their worst impulses. Most institutions have not developed a robust immune system for this novel disease.

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There's no mob here. Loeb really is a crank, and a while back started making noise (again) about alien origins for these rocks. And this time a bunch of regular/non-crank/conventional scientists listed to his noise and published a paper refuting it before he could get his own research out.

That's not censorship, that's just science. Yes, it's important that everyone is able to share their iconoclast ideas. And Loeb did. And it's likewise important for people to be able to tell you you're wrong when you are.

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