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What People Think You Can’t Say in Silicon Valley

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Re: What People Think You Can’t Say in Silicon Valley

#31

Post by Cookingboy »

spiznnx wrote: post #27
ggg9990 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure why something becomes "unacceptable to society" just because it "poses a threat to feminist aims." What's the first principles reason why it should be unacceptable?

It's not really something that can be well summarized in a hn comment, but basically, it re-enforces the idea that men and women are actually so different that you have to be a certain gender just to do something you want to do (gender essentialism). My main point is, if it were acceptable, my s.o. would have a blog post about it that I could just link you to.

Jesus, that logic just broke my brain, and I'm not saying that dismissively.

Now I need to really think about this...

Re: What People Think You Can’t Say in Silicon Valley

#33

Post by wwweston »

aaron-lebo wrote: post #16
Aloha wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this is key. In the south (and other places) you're more apt to spot people who have deep bias against people for intrinsic things - in the North (including CA, and Northwest) those ideas are so completely unacceptable, that those people never get called out on them.

How did you write that without realizing how oxymoronic it is? Were you trying to be an example of: "people who have deep bias against people for intrinsic things"? Besides your suggestion that prejudice doesn't exist in the north (lol), you're writing from the Pacific Northwest, one of the least diverse places in the country. Oregon is 83% white; Texas hasn't been that white since 1970, currently 45% non-Hispanic wh…

The assertion seems to be that racism -- perhaps even a specific manifestation of racism -- is more prevalent in the south than in other areas of the country. Not that everyone in the south is racist, or that everyone in the north isn't.

Perhaps you would like it if even this more carefully worded thing was something people didn't say. If so, it'd probably be interesting to unpack why.

Also, I'm not sure that geographic location counts as an intrinsic trait. And no matter how diverse your circle of association is, beware of assuming they're representative of what you'd see in a geographic cross section. Based on my survey of my Republican acquaintances in my home state, I would have assumed that Trump wouldn't have won the primary there.

Re: What People Think You Can’t Say in Silicon Valley

#34

Post by yzhou »

tstactplsignore wrote: post #23
evangelista wrote: post #11

“A lot of the ideas here will not actually get you ostracized from Silicon Valley society.” Oh dude you have just not been paying attention. Can you show me a single example of someone in tech who publicly expresses, at any point, any of the beliefs which are “not allowed?” I’m looking for one. Find me one person on Twitter in tech aside from John McAfee or Peter Theil who would dare. Sam Altman was good enough to st…

I don't think I could convince you of anything. But can I ask: if the other side were right, and some of these views are so abhorrent that the outrage against people who express them is almost entirely justified- would you be able to tell? There are definitely some political views that should be socially discouraged and attacked and there should be social repercussions for the people who express them. You disagree on…

why do you say Scott Adams is purely evil?

Re: What People Think You Can’t Say in Silicon Valley

#35

Post by gaius »

to_bpr wrote: post #5

SV has championed a super toxic, toe-the-liberal-line-question-nothing atmosphere in the workplace for years now. The damage is done. You'd have to be a total fool to bring up any of the non-left-wing, yet totally valid comments on that post in a tech workplace in 2017.

Here's how it works in London: a right-wing racist will call you a racist epithet to your face. A left-wing racist will talk a lot about diversity but work behind the scenes to ethnically cleanse your neighbourhood (aka "gentrification").

Re: What People Think You Can’t Say in Silicon Valley

#36

Post by d33 »

kazagistar wrote: post #32
temp wrote: post #2

Are you allowed to discuss income equality for male porn actors? Or is that taboo?

Just debate the real issue you care about, instead of fighting passive-aggressive proxy wars or whatever.

Are you implying he doesn't care about this issue? What leads you to this claim?

Re: What People Think You Can’t Say in Silicon Valley

#37

Post by briandear »

aestetix wrote: post #28

What I read about the current climate in the US reminds me a lot of how things were in the months after 9/11. While I don't have unbiased data like in the link, I can share a personal anecdote: In the months after 9/11, if you spoke up and said you didn't agree with US foreign policy (invading Afghanistan) or that you didn't approve of Bush and wanted him to resign, you got blacklisted. I had a friend, every house in…

Try putting up a Ted Cruz sign in Mountain View.

Re: What People Think You Can’t Say in Silicon Valley

#38

Post by blfr »

tstactplsignore wrote: post #23
evangelista wrote: post #11

“A lot of the ideas here will not actually get you ostracized from Silicon Valley society.” Oh dude you have just not been paying attention. Can you show me a single example of someone in tech who publicly expresses, at any point, any of the beliefs which are “not allowed?” I’m looking for one. Find me one person on Twitter in tech aside from John McAfee or Peter Theil who would dare. Sam Altman was good enough to st…

I don't think I could convince you of anything. But can I ask: if the other side were right, and some of these views are so abhorrent that the outrage against people who express them is almost entirely justified- would you be able to tell? There are definitely some political views that should be socially discouraged and attacked and there should be social repercussions for the people who express them. You disagree on…

I can maybe see how Scott Adams is anti-intellectual, although people claiming to be rational should definitely consider his view, but how is he "purely evil"?

Re: What People Think You Can’t Say in Silicon Valley

#39

Post by briandear »

briandear wrote: post #18
bdamm wrote: post #8

"Silicon Valley" is a workplace, and it's generally considered rude to bring your political views into the workplace. Everyone has met the very passionate on both the left and the right, and having someone stand outside your cube or in the lunch line trying to "win" you over to their view just isn't conducive to getting your work done and making money.

Unless you are on the left, then in SV it’s perfectly acceptable.

Why is this downvoted? It’s a fact.
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