It was, indeed, the second-to-last editorial which will appear in the real Medical Hypotheses; since the publishers Elsevier (apparently) intend to continue the title as a peer-reviewed, orthodox and censored imposter journal; and are sacking me from the editorship on 11 May 2010 for declining to cooperate with their plans.

This whole shabby business has only served to confirm for me that we are now, indeed, living After Science.

As far as simulations go, I’m a tremendous fan, because they can provide quasi-experiential learning where only book-learning was possible before — but trading away real-life experience for simulated experience? That’s not an unalloyed good.

Martha Lunken, a longtime pilot who has also worked as an FAA Inspector, wrote an interesting article raising some concerns about the increasing use of intensive simulator-based training programs for prospective airline pilots (typically first hired as commuter-airline copilots) as opposed to the traditional path of gaining extensive actual flight experience by flying freight, doing flight instruction, etc. I’ve been meaning to write a post expanding on her article.