re: what I was going to say
I would offer the suggestion that the surplus of this kind of thing in academia is due largely to the fact that it has always been easier to sling bullshit than to use observation, reason, logic, and common sense to analyze reality. Especially if observation, reason, logic, and common sense are giving you answers you don't like.
Academia certainly isn't the only refuge of the fewmet-slingers. See also politics, and the modern artistic community, to name just a couple.