Who gets to contribute to knowledge production of an epistemic community? Scholarship has focussed on unjustified forms of exclusion. Here I study justified forms of exclusion by investigating the phenomenon of so-called ‘cranks’ in mathematics. I argue that workload-management concerns justify the exclusion of these outsiders from mathematical knowledge-making practices. My discussion reveals three insights. There are reasons other than incorrect mathematical argument that justify exclusions from mathematical practices. There are instances in which mathematicians are justified in rejecting even correct mathematical arguments. Finally, the way mathematicians spot mathematical crankery does not support the pejorative connotations of the ‘crank’ terminology.

中文翻译：

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数学中合理的认知排除

谁可以为认知共同体的知识生产做出贡献？奖学金集中在不合理的排斥形式上。在这里，我通过调查数学中所谓的“怪癖”现象来研究合理的排除形式。我认为，工作量管理问题证明将这些局外人排除在数学知识创造实践之外是合理的。我的讨论揭示了三个见解。除了不正确的数学论证之外，还有其他原因可以证明排除在数学实践之外。在某些情况下，数学家有理由拒绝甚至正确的数学论证。最后，数学家发现数学怪癖的方式并不支持“怪癖”术语的贬义。