First, the cited paper is from 1994, and was updated 18 years later only to commemorate the Mayan calendar doomsday. Katja’s thesis does indeed cite this paper, so the red flag of a diseased discipline can be safely lowered.
Second, it is the favorite hobby of many physicists to spot some place in another field (biology, sociology etc.) where some concept from physics (percolation, self-organized criticality etc.) can be applied, and rush there without reading any of the already existing literature. This habit of physicists can be annoying even in itself for the practitioners of the given field. But then another physicists comes by, finds that the physicists did not properly cite the literature, and deems the field a diseased discipline? Ouch, that must be painful to hear. :)
First, the cited paper is from 1994, and was updated 18 years later only to commemorate the Mayan calendar doomsday. Katja’s thesis does indeed cite this paper, so the red flag of a diseased discipline can be safely lowered.
Second, it is the favorite hobby of many physicists to spot some place in another field (biology, sociology etc.) where some concept from physics (percolation, self-organized criticality etc.) can be applied, and rush there without reading any of the already existing literature. This habit of physicists can be annoying even in itself for the practitioners of the given field. But then another physicists comes by, finds that the physicists did not properly cite the literature, and deems the field a diseased discipline? Ouch, that must be painful to hear. :)