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Friends Are Genetically Similar (2014)

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Re: Friends Are Genetically Similar (2014)

#201

Post by interfixus »

emodendroket wrote: post #193
interfixus wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Surely very high intermarriage rates between different European ethnicities complicate that Very high intermarriage rates? Wherever did you pick up such an idea? > In that case, wouldn't the opposite behavior be expected? If the goal were to have as little genetic variation as possible humans would be better off reproducing asexually There is no 'goal'. And too little variation seems to be a universally bad idea. I…

Marriages between different ethnicities of white Americans are so commonplace they're not even considered interracial. To my second point, the whole benefit of sexual reproduction is genetic diversity, so it's odd to have some evolutionarily dictated behavior pulling the opposite way.

Oh, Americans. I am European and took 'European ethnicities' to refer to actual Europeans. We don't mix all that much.

Re: Friends Are Genetically Similar (2014)

#202

Post by corporateslave3 »

scotty79 wrote: post #200
corporateslave2 wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The point is, when you have everyone take that test, you end up hiring only Kenyans. And then everyone cries about discrimination

If the test is adequate for the job I don't think most people would mind. For example nobody says that short whites, latinos and asians are victims of discrimination because there's so few of them in NBA. Discrimination is suspected if the test has little to do with actual job requirements.

Whats your opinion on diversity in tech and the whiteboarding interview process at the big tech companies?

Re: Friends Are Genetically Similar (2014)

#203

Post by emodendroket »

interfixus wrote: post #201
emodendroket wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Marriages between different ethnicities of white Americans are so commonplace they're not even considered interracial. To my second point, the whole benefit of sexual reproduction is genetic diversity, so it's odd to have some evolutionarily dictated behavior pulling the opposite way.

Oh, Americans. I am European and took 'European ethnicities' to refer to actual Europeans. We don't mix all that much.

Well, yeah, there are a whole different set of circumstances there.

Re: Friends Are Genetically Similar (2014)

#204

Post by scotty79 »

corporateslave3 wrote: post #202
scotty79 wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If the test is adequate for the job I don't think most people would mind. For example nobody says that short whites, latinos and asians are victims of discrimination because there's so few of them in NBA. Discrimination is suspected if the test has little to do with actual job requirements.

Whats your opinion on diversity in tech and the whiteboarding interview process at the big tech companies?

Whiteboards interviews are inadequate. I'd opt for time boxed (for a month?) trial employment. Paid but probably less than actual job. After a short test for absolute basics to verify that person has the skills to even start.

Lack of diversity in tech is sad for me, but I don't think that there should be any additional incentives or bonus points on entry based on minority status. The problem for me is that large companies pretty much shy away from responsibility of training new employees for themselves and only hire people who got themselves fully educated already. This causes artificial barriers in entry to tech that let in only the people who in the past had the means and the will.

I'd put responsibility on the companies to hire for entry level positions people that have not previously worked in tech and attempt to train them. This could be proportional to company headcount and if company refuses to hire it should contibute significant amount of money to a fund that sponsors free tech education initiatives for anyone who's willing.

I think this approach would increase diversity and even help other groups disadvantaged on the job market.

It would put burden on companies but I haven't heard of company bankrupt because it spent too much on new employee training.

This kind of scheme is in place in my country to support employment of the disabled people. I think it should work on entry level employees too.

Re: Friends Are Genetically Similar (2014)

#205

Post by BearGoesChirp »

emodendroket wrote: post #128
BearGoesChirp wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Adultery has become vastly more socially acceptable. It isn't considered nice, but it doesn't get you killed anymore. And for murder, that can be a bit of a tautology as socially unacceptable killing is murder and anything else isn't considered on the same level as murder. But if we consider killing that isn't considered murder and if you consider forms of killing that, if not legal, are punished lighter than murder,…

Does this kind of nitpicking actually invalidate the argument? Use sexual assault if you prefer. The point is that a behavior being natural or instinctual doesn't make it moral or desirable.

>Does this kind of nitpicking actually invalidate the argument?

It does if there are enough nitpicks showing that natural behaviors are becoming more accepted because they are natural. That isn't to say they are acceptable, but they are more accepted. And this doesn't have to be true of all behaviors, because there are many factors at play. It is even possible there could be a trend where behaviors are becoming more acceptable because they are natural even if all behaviors were becoming less acceptable, if there was another stronger force acting to make all behaviors less acceptable.

But if we want to get to the actual argument first presented, we would have to realize that comparing it to murder, adultery, or sexual assault is a strawman to begin with. The OP wasn't defending going around and murdering people who didn't look like you. They were saying that millions of years of evolution will influence our behaviors in small ways. It would be compared to other preferences, such as preferences in intimate partners. So, is wanting to have a specific gender, race, etc. in an intimate partner wrong? Is it socially unacceptable?

Re: Friends Are Genetically Similar (2014)

#206

Post by corporateslave3 »

scotty79 wrote: post #204
corporateslave3 wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whats your opinion on diversity in tech and the whiteboarding interview process at the big tech companies?

Whiteboards interviews are inadequate. I'd opt for time boxed (for a month?) trial employment. Paid but probably less than actual job. After a short test for absolute basics to verify that person has the skills to even start. Lack of diversity in tech is sad for me, but I don't think that there should be any additional incentives or bonus points on entry based on minority status. The problem for me is that large comp…

"Whiteboards interviews are inadequate. I'd opt for time boxed (for a month?) trial employment."

How is this even possible? People have to work full time jobs while interviewing.

Re: Friends Are Genetically Similar (2014)

#207

Post by emodendroket »

BearGoesChirp wrote: post #205
emodendroket wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does this kind of nitpicking actually invalidate the argument? Use sexual assault if you prefer. The point is that a behavior being natural or instinctual doesn't make it moral or desirable.

>Does this kind of nitpicking actually invalidate the argument? It does if there are enough nitpicks showing that natural behaviors are becoming more accepted because they are natural. That isn't to say they are acceptable, but they are more accepted. And this doesn't have to be true of all behaviors, because there are many factors at play. It is even possible there could be a trend where behaviors are becoming more…

This is a philosophical question as much as anything else, but I believe that, whether we are successful in perceiving it or not, there is such a thing as objective right and wrong as distinct from social acceptability. I'm hesitant to say anything about how people should pick romantic partners, but it seems to me as though that is actually rather considerably narrowing the scope of what we're talking about. I do think it is wrong to intentionally seek to form an ethnically homogenous group of friends and associates.
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