I think it’s an asymmetric problem across areas of study. Including within math — there aren’t many amateurs who are going to try their hand at algebraic geometry, but number theory tends to be like catnip, because many wicked problems are very simple to state.

Math is not so different from computer science in that it seems relatively approachable to a layperson. But there are relatively few mathematicians out there. That same level of spam is being filtered by much fewer people.

To me, it’s akin to why the Linux kernel devs operate the way they do. No GitHub issue page, no Slack, no Discord, banning topposting and web email providers. It’s all based on old school mailing lists, because there’s orders of magnitude more amateurs than kernel devs and they don’t have time for handholding the unwashed masses.

Anyway, I think there’s some middle ground to be found between this extremely burdensome process to submit a paper for publishing, and making it as easy to publish as making a forum post…