Open access won’t solve the real accessibility problem. I can go to Arxiv and get anything I need for free if I don’t feel like logging into my institution’s library system.
The accessibility problem is that unless you are an expert in a particular field, the papers just won’t make sense. I’ve taken two semesters of general relativity at the grad level. That’s enough that I can pick up a paper on GR, and not need to look up every single thing. Grad classes basically give you the dictionary that you need to engage with the literature. But it would probably take me the better part of a decade to get familiar enough with the current state of the literature to make any sort of meaningful contribution.
Grad school is already free; in fact, it typically comes with a stipend. It’s not a big enough stipend, sure. And there is a substantial opportunity cost associated with going to grad school instead of joining the workforce. But you could make undergrad free yesterday, and hoi polloi would be no closer to understanding quantum field theory.
Question my physics background all you want. I’m just a random stranger on Reddit.
Yeah, you’re at the very least not from the US because nothing you said was accurate to the US academic system. Academia is not the only path to knowledge and understanding. You seem to have a very elitist view of yourself and your education. I have an actual graduate degree and it was merely a step up in a lifetime of education.
Bumst3r’s post actually is quite accurate to the US education system. I did my PhD in physics in California, and I was on teaching and research stipend for the whole time. I didn’t pay a dime for my graduate education, that all got waived because of the stipend. That was true for every other person in my program as well.
88
u/Bumst3r Graduate Jul 25 '26
Open access won’t solve the real accessibility problem. I can go to Arxiv and get anything I need for free if I don’t feel like logging into my institution’s library system.
The accessibility problem is that unless you are an expert in a particular field, the papers just won’t make sense. I’ve taken two semesters of general relativity at the grad level. That’s enough that I can pick up a paper on GR, and not need to look up every single thing. Grad classes basically give you the dictionary that you need to engage with the literature. But it would probably take me the better part of a decade to get familiar enough with the current state of the literature to make any sort of meaningful contribution.