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Three teen sisters who win medals in coding competitions

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21–30 of 144 posts

Re: Three teen sisters who win medals in coding competitions

#21
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Can anyone point me to a link where anyone (other than a feminist) has said this? Seems odd to tie this to being a feminist. I would hope all commentators on HN are feminists. What is your definition of a feminist? > There has never been a myth that women can't code. I don't think anyone says women "can't" code. I would say in most universities in the US, you could reasonably argue there seems to be more barriers t…

> I would hope all commentators on HN are feminists. I would hope so too, but the empirical evidence is against us.

A lot of people, especially here, believe that matters of equality are solved by treating peers as equals regardless of differences, rather than praise the differences, put them on a pedestal and give the people handicaps for being different.

I'd also love to see all that "empirical evidence". HN is one of the most respectful communities in tech I've frequented. Sexist remarks and the like tend to be downvoted and flagged.

Re: Three teen sisters who win medals in coding competitions

#22

There's something that continuously goes unsaid in the US tech industry where we do massive amounts of soul-searching about the lack and/or poor treatment of women in STEM: the ex-republics of the Soviet Union, while they have plenty of other problems, do not have this specific problem.

my personal observation over the years says that the vast majority of new female engineers have come from foreign countries. Or are American citizens who immigrated here after middle school. We're celebrating a narrowing gender gap, but American women seem to be largely left out.

I wonder which of these other nations are. Perhaps their engineering cultures are more gender-egalitarian than ours.

Re: Three teen sisters who win medals in coding competitions

#23

>As for my sisters, if a guy says girls can’t code as well as guys, then my sisters just say “well, my sister wins competitions.” >I’ve won 2 bronze medals at IOI, 1 bronze at CEOI, 2 silvers at IZhO. Mari, Ani and I competed in HackerRank Women’s Cup as a team last year, and we ranked third place! Some companies that sponsored the event even sent us a letter after the contest, but I had to tell them that we’re too y…

You are missing the point, it is not about the girls or records; it is an infomercial aimed at girl coders.

Re: Three teen sisters who win medals in coding competitions

#24
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Can anyone point me to a link where anyone (other than a feminist) has said this? Seems odd to tie this to being a feminist. I would hope all commentators on HN are feminists. What is your definition of a feminist? > There has never been a myth that women can't code. I don't think anyone says women "can't" code. I would say in most universities in the US, you could reasonably argue there seems to be more barriers t…

You're most likely being downvoted because you misunderstood the parent post. Saying "you can code even if you're a woman" is incredibly patronizing. It was never in question . If I started saying, "Well, I think everyone can code, even red-haired people", it'd be negatively worded against red-haired people. Hey, have you ever heard a politician bring something up under the guise of defending their opponents? Like ma…

Indeed. That's because "X occurs, even if Y" means something like, "In spite of the expectation that X doesn't occur because of confounding factor Y, X occurs anyway".

Re: Three teen sisters who win medals in coding competitions

#25
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Can anyone point me to a link where anyone (other than a feminist) has said this? Seems odd to tie this to being a feminist. I would hope all commentators on HN are feminists. What is your definition of a feminist? > There has never been a myth that women can't code. I don't think anyone says women "can't" code. I would say in most universities in the US, you could reasonably argue there seems to be more barriers t…

You're most likely being downvoted because you misunderstood the parent post. Saying "you can code even if you're a woman" is incredibly patronizing. It was never in question . If I started saying, "Well, I think everyone can code, even red-haired people", it'd be negatively worded against red-haired people. Hey, have you ever heard a politician bring something up under the guise of defending their opponents? Like ma…

So, your argument is "no one has ever said men are better at writing programs than women"?

Re: Three teen sisters who win medals in coding competitions

#26
post #19

While on the topic of girls at Olympiads, one should also add Lisa Sauermann of Germany who is the most successful participant of all time at the International Math Olympiad. http://www.maa.org/news/math-news/germanys-lisa-sauermann-wi...

well not really http://official.imo2011.nl/participant_r.aspx?id=19624 but still impressive

Re: Three teen sisters who win medals in coding competitions

#27
Smashing record? What they had done for humanity?

In my opinion is a bad idea to add too much pressure to kids, making them compete in contest with absolutely no useful outcome.

When I was a kid I entered Mensa but went out soon because of the ill competition "I am smarter than you" stupidity from tests that had nothing to do with the real world. A constant ego battle between (in lots of non testable ways) retarded people.

For me it was mental onanism, most of the people there will score enormously in the IQ scores or playing chess but then fail in life: fail in love, fail in relationships and fail in health. They will use excuses to rationalize the fact that was known to them but I could see why: the environment was vicious.

In contrast at 15 or so I joined a group of crackers that were dam smart and we were doing things. Forty years old experts would say a protection was impossible to break and we will break it that same weekend.

It was so fun and we were doing things that nobody had done before. We did not earn a penny but it was one of the most useful experiences I ever had: Getting used to do things nobody has done before with a good team does improve other people's lifes(and your own as a result) dramatically.

Had I been forced to do that when I was a kid I would never had done it.

I was told I was genius, then that I was not(when I refused to make IQ scores anymore),just a precocious kid, and it was a great release, I had not pressure over my shoulders to please others' expectations.

I could do as much dumb things as kids do. I was happy as a kid, and I am very happy as an adult.

I feel sorry for this girls. Let girls be girls. Don't make them symbols of women fight against XY chromosomes. Let those girls decide if the want to become activist when they had grown up and could decide for themselves.

Re: Three teen sisters who win medals in coding competitions

#28
post #17
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Can anyone point me to a link where anyone (other than a feminist) has said this? Seems odd to tie this to being a feminist. I would hope all commentators on HN are feminists. What is your definition of a feminist? > There has never been a myth that women can't code. I don't think anyone says women "can't" code. I would say in most universities in the US, you could reasonably argue there seems to be more barriers t…

Just out of curiosity.. what barriers?

Here's one for example: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereotype_threat

I'm sure if you Google, you can find much better explanations than I am able to provide.

Re: Three teen sisters who win medals in coding competitions

#29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I would hope all commentators on HN are feminists. I would hope so too, but the empirical evidence is against us.

A lot of people, especially here, believe that matters of equality are solved by treating peers as equals regardless of differences, rather than praise the differences, put them on a pedestal and give the people handicaps for being different. I'd also love to see all that "empirical evidence". HN is one of the most respectful communities in tech I've frequented. Sexist remarks and the like tend to be downvoted and fl…

As a minority, I think it is incredibly valuable to see people like me succeeding.

>HN is one of the most respectful communities in tech I've frequented.

I don't think I've ever seen a thoughtful discussion here when the topic relates to gender or race.

Re: Three teen sisters who win medals in coding competitions

#30
post #15
post #14

To everyone arguing technicalities over whether they are actually winners, or some odd mental gymnastics of reverse sexism, consider the following: This article is not written for you. Not everything on the internet has to be. If this story inspires just one woman to start a career in coding, then it is worth all the collective eye-rolling.

I don't see many people arguing over technicalities here.

at this point in time, the 2nd highest comment is.
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