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Sundar Pichai Should Resign as Google’s C.E.O

nytimes.com

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Re: Sundar Pichai Should Resign as Google’s C.E.O

#41

Post by the_common_man »

Shank wrote: post #8

Honestly, I think he made the right move just from a PR perspective. His firing makes sense: the CEO and HR are both acting to protect the company. The author of the manifesto caused Google a PR disaster and created a huge state of internal conflict, valid or not. The shareholders are probably really happy that their CEO removed a person who managed to get Google so much bad press in so little time. This is the reali…

> Honestly, I think he made the right move just from a PR perspective

The person who posted their thoughts did so in a _closed_ mailing list that was intentionally setup to discuss all this. The document was leaked. At best, he deserved a reprimand. Firing him makes it clear that there is no room for alternate thoughts in Google other than the ultra-progressive view point.

Re: Sundar Pichai Should Resign as Google’s C.E.O

#42

Post by samstave »

EduardoBautista wrote: post #12

Convincing women to focus on a career in STEM is telling them that their choices for careers in nursing, teaching, and any other career dominated by women are wrong choices. I don't believe that, they are essential to our society and are arguably more important than helping create better ads at Google and Facebook.

+1

Look at the output of ones work. If the output of ones work is positive, then it doesn't really matter how they got there or what they do.

The elephant wrt to "women are under-represented in stem careers" is that education is not universally applied/available.

Gender should not matter.

Provide universal education from birth to all minds and let those minds "mind their own business" as it were...

If people land in places due to their own thought, that is a true democracy of thought and freedom - but poor choices only ever occur based on poor information.

Re: Sundar Pichai Should Resign as Google’s C.E.O

#43

Post by vkou »

endorphone wrote: post #20
Shank wrote: post #8

Honestly, I think he made the right move just from a PR perspective. His firing makes sense: the CEO and HR are both acting to protect the company. The author of the manifesto caused Google a PR disaster and created a huge state of internal conflict, valid or not. The shareholders are probably really happy that their CEO removed a person who managed to get Google so much bad press in so little time. This is the reali…

The firing has been a PR disaster, and amplified and exaggerated the effect of this issue (not to mention that it drew attention to other factors, like Google's institutional ageism). And while I don't want to diagnose over the internet, it seems like it's attacking someone on the spectrum for traits of being on the spectrum. By firing him they made him a hero to enormous groups, and doubled down on this discussion.…

The firing was necessary, because not firing someone who creates a hostile working environment opens you to lawsuits from every single other person employed in your company. [1] Anyone who's taken training on sexual harassment would understand this.

His essay is not scientific, or evidence-based. It's ten pages of micro-facts, followed by his biases or misunderstands, followed by enormous leaps of logic to macro-conclusions. It wouldn't pass as a bloody undergrad essay. [2]

(It is a poster child of a techie looking at a complicated problem that they don't understand, and saying 'I'm smart! This is easy! You guys are all wrong!')

[1] https://twitter.com/mcclure111/status/895071933666017280

[2] https://www.quora.com/What-do-scientists-think-about-the-bio...

Re: Sundar Pichai Should Resign as Google’s C.E.O

#44

Post by whowouldathunk »

EduardoBautista wrote: post #23
whowouldathunk wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a lot of technology involved in healthcare and teaching.

That doesn't make school teachers or nurses any less important or necessary.

If a nursing school made a push for recruiting more male nurses I wouldn't feel like my software engineering career was a wrong choice.

Re: Sundar Pichai Should Resign as Google’s C.E.O

#45

Post by pinaceae »

EduardoBautista wrote: post #12

Convincing women to focus on a career in STEM is telling them that their choices for careers in nursing, teaching, and any other career dominated by women are wrong choices. I don't believe that, they are essential to our society and are arguably more important than helping create better ads at Google and Facebook.

So why not encourage men to pursue careers in nursing and teaching?

Re: Sundar Pichai Should Resign as Google’s C.E.O

#48

Post by olewhalehunter »

FLUX-YOU wrote: post #21
whowouldathunk wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a lot of technology involved in healthcare and teaching.

In fact, healthcare technology, specifically user interfaces, needs all of the brilliant people it can get.

As a former medical tech developer, the problems in healthcare are almost entirely social/political and the healthcare tech business is making things worse in most respects.

Re: Sundar Pichai Should Resign as Google’s C.E.O

#49

Post by hugh4life »

Completely nuts... and I generally agree with the guy who was fired. First, this issue has little to do with the end product of the corporation. Second, CEOs have less control of the socio-political environment they find themselves in than say the "Newspaper of Record".

Re: Sundar Pichai Should Resign as Google’s C.E.O

#50

Post by greendesk »

lisper wrote: post #33

The primary thesis of Damore's memo [1] was not that women are biologically unsuited to STEM careers. The primary thesis was that, at Google, you cannot even advance the hypothesis that biology might be a factor without putting your career at risk. Ironically, by firing Damore, Pichai proved him correct. EDIT: if you doubt this, just look at the document's title and TL;DR section. [1] https://assets.documentcloud.org…

I read James' document. I did not have the impression that this is his thesis.
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