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Stuff You Can't Say in Silicon Valley

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Re: Stuff You Can't Say in Silicon Valley

#111

Post by electrograv »

ender7 wrote: post #103
electrograv wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I 100% agree with your premise that “the more voices the better” (i.e. the fewer voices that are silenced, the better). What you describe certainly covers much of what’s happening, but something else is happening too: Voices are being silenced. And to respond to your opening sentence, I don’t mean anyone is silenced physically (who does that?), but rather psychologically, culturally, and socially. That’s not a good t…

On the contrary, silencing voices is a necessary thing. All societies have to determine what speech is allowed and what isn't. There are lots of things you can say in general American society that will get you censured. Claiming that black people are biologically inferior to white people, for example. Claiming that women are biologically inferior to men, though? Some still seem fond of that one. This all boils down t…

Wouldn’t it be far more effective (and safe) to defeat bad ideas with evidence and reason?

Re: Stuff You Can't Say in Silicon Valley

#112

Post by Naritai »

closure wrote: post #90

I stopped reading here: “If San Francisco residents really believed that sea levels were rising, they’d have all sold their homes by now.” Apparently the author has never been to San Francisco or seen the sea level estimates for the next 30-70 years. The last time I looked the northernmost and easternmost parts of SF will have some trouble, but by far the biggest areas of concern are east of 101 south of the city. An…

I was going to comment on this one too. There are lots of projections of which sections of SF will be underwater, and those are the cheapest places to live. It is already priced into the market.

Re: Stuff You Can't Say in Silicon Valley

#113

Post by rahimnathwani »

aphextron wrote: post #77
dahdum wrote: post #59

That article is completely out of line. For the record: I think SF is doing a great job tackling homelessness, human excrement management, and broad daylight IV drug abuse. They just need to raise taxes to increase funding for all the really successful programs underway. I'm sure they've got a handle on it. It's a wonderful vacation destination for families. Affordable housing will definitely be solved by higher taxe…

Can't tell if this is serious

I can't tell if this is serious.

Re: Stuff You Can't Say in Silicon Valley

#114

Post by johndevor »

ender7 wrote: post #103
electrograv wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I 100% agree with your premise that “the more voices the better” (i.e. the fewer voices that are silenced, the better). What you describe certainly covers much of what’s happening, but something else is happening too: Voices are being silenced. And to respond to your opening sentence, I don’t mean anyone is silenced physically (who does that?), but rather psychologically, culturally, and socially. That’s not a good t…

On the contrary, silencing voices is a necessary thing. All societies have to determine what speech is allowed and what isn't. There are lots of things you can say in general American society that will get you censured. Claiming that black people are biologically inferior to white people, for example. Claiming that women are biologically inferior to men, though? Some still seem fond of that one. This all boils down t…

> On the contrary, silencing voices is a necessary thing.

Couldn't disagree with you more.

The best antidote for bad ideas is sunshine.

The alternative is totalitarianism.

Re: Stuff You Can't Say in Silicon Valley

#115

Post by the_cat_kittles »

publidat wrote: post #94

I feel like it’ll take another dozen years before some people are ready to admit that “Liberal McCarthyism” is exactly what emerged around 2017. And in the meantime, as someone who’s not interested in waiting on the current power-brokers in SV to admit to it, I think it makes sense for those who are the primary target of this new McCarthyism to engineer a way to preseve their rights. Depending on SV’s prevailing powe…

i dont know, i dont see alot of damage from the pendulum swinging "too far"? i guess some of the speaker harassment on college campuses and some calling for some prof's heads is bs... what else? probably jeffery lord (despite sucking super hard) shouldn't have been fired. i dont know, maybe im missing some, but it seems like this is not sufficient grounds to feel so aggrieved.

Re: Stuff You Can't Say in Silicon Valley

#116

Post by tachyonbeam »

mcguire wrote: post #93
toomuchtodo wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the greater concern are weaponized codes of conduct in an at-will employment environment. If you can’t say something without losing your job, you’re not free to say something. You can take every effort to respect someone else, not allow any of your behavior to be construed as harassment, and still be out the door because someone objects to or is offended by what you’ve said.

That's always been the case.

Doesn't make it okay. It used to be considered a left position to believe that everyone is entitled to their own opinion. We also used to argue in favor of freedom of speech. One thing hasn't changed, which is that the people in power want to suppress any speech they disagree with.

Re: Stuff You Can't Say in Silicon Valley

#118

Post by T2_t2 »

ajross wrote: post #76
chasing wrote: post #58

You can say any of those things in Silicon Valley. I mean, people might make some judgments about you. But that happens whenever you state any opinion, especially if it isn't the mainstream. I think a lot of people are used to saying what's on their mind without consequence. They're used to other types of people remaining quiet on certain topics -- especially topics related to race, gender, and sexuality. And that's…

> I think a lot of people are used to saying what's on their mind without consequence. No, it's simpler still. What is happening is that conservatives feel awkward and nervous being a minority (irony much?), so they look to strawman arguments to make themselves feel better. Obviously you can have those fights if you want. You just can't find many people to agree with you. This is like walking into a megachurch in Mis…

I couldn't agree more. In a town like SV where almost everyone is liberal, the problem is conservatives.

Oh, do I need to state that was sarcasm?

> This is like walking into a megachurch in Mississippi and complaining that no one wants to listen to your opinions on reproductive health care.

How can you not see the irony in this? Your example is a bad outcome. SV doing the reverse is bad. Not there are ideas that are OK and ideas that are bad, contextually, and alienating people is all good and fine, where my badness is OK if it is proportional and opposite to your badness. Intolerance ITSELF is the problem, fullstop, no matter the "rightness" of the idea.

We live in a diverse world, and finding ways to get along is the key. How can we do that when any form of alienation is defended?

Re: Stuff You Can't Say in Silicon Valley

#119

Post by [deleted] »

ender7 wrote: post #103
electrograv wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I 100% agree with your premise that “the more voices the better” (i.e. the fewer voices that are silenced, the better). What you describe certainly covers much of what’s happening, but something else is happening too: Voices are being silenced. And to respond to your opening sentence, I don’t mean anyone is silenced physically (who does that?), but rather psychologically, culturally, and socially. That’s not a good t…

On the contrary, silencing voices is a necessary thing. All societies have to determine what speech is allowed and what isn't. There are lots of things you can say in general American society that will get you censured. Claiming that black people are biologically inferior to white people, for example. Claiming that women are biologically inferior to men, though? Some still seem fond of that one. This all boils down t…

[deleted]

Re: Stuff You Can't Say in Silicon Valley

#120

Post by junkscience2017 »

pg_bot wrote: post #52

I can probably add a few more to this list: "Income inequality is not an actual problem" "The affordable care act was bad for America" "It would be beneficial if we got rid of all government guaranteed loans for university tuition" "People should be allowed to own automatic weapons"

and more:

"wikimedia has plenty of money"

"Mozilla is institutionally focused on supporting left wing views exclusively"

"all of the rich people who speak out against guns have bodyguards who carry guns. they basically don't want poor people owning guns"

"fwd.us is against Trump's wall but Mark Zuckerberg wanted to buy a city block in Palo Alto to keep the masses out"

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