Majority of people in tech are not autistic stereotype. The actually autistic were definitely not among the best I have worked with.
The Empathy Gap in Tech: Interview with a Software Engineer
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Re: The Empathy Gap in Tech: Interview with a Software Engineer
#22The Wikipedia article on Asperger's doesn't mention hypersensitivity to touch, but this research suggests that a link does exist:
http://docs.autismresearchcentre.com/papers/2006_Blakemore_T...
Re: The Empathy Gap in Tech: Interview with a Software Engineer
#23Became curious and took the Autism Spectrum Quotient test and got a score of 35. Huh, who gives
Re: The Empathy Gap in Tech: Interview with a Software Engineer
#24> The technology industry is one of the most Aspie-friendly places that there is.
Amen. I think this is something we should be proud of.
Re: The Empathy Gap in Tech: Interview with a Software Engineer
#25Majority of people in tech are not autistic stereotype. The actually autistic were definitely not among the best I have worked with.
Did you ask everyone you worked with if they were autistic, or is this based on gut feeling?
Re: The Empathy Gap in Tech: Interview with a Software Engineer
#26His childhood mirrors my own, although academic success is inverted. I wonder if there is some trait which transfixed us for life, I am certain that the interviewee (Gideon) and I are not alone. It also beggars the question. Although very non-PC. That were I a girl I would not be dissuaded from this course. I know this because there was literally zero support from anyone regarding computing as a hobby or profession.…
I have seen multiple women express surprise that I am programmer because "but you are women" or "I did not knew women can do that". I live in a bit behind the times place, obviously. Conversely, I have seen parents shocked that someone would put boy on art lesson. Is that part of your answer? Nevertheless, among my friends, parents agains boy doing computing were practically nonexistent. Computer was usually in boy r…
> Computer was usually in boy room and boys were heavily praised for every tiny thing they knew and expected to deal. Their sisters largely aware that it is for boys
Among my friends, it was the opposite. I have two close male friends who, like me, were obsessed with computers for at least 20 years. In both cases, their parents bought computers for their sisters, not them. Their parents encouraged their sisters to get into computers, but it was the guys who became obsessed with computers and programming, having never particularly been encouraged to do so.
Re: The Empathy Gap in Tech: Interview with a Software Engineer
#27This article is going to rub lots of people the wrong way, I suspect, but it's level headed, well reasoned and well written. Although I ultimately disagree with some of the conclusions drawn at the end, (particularly: > Because contemporary moral codes delineate women as vulnerable or marginalised, we stop seeing them as individuals with unique talents and idiosyncrasies, but as representatives of a victimised class.…
Not particular to the Google stuff, but more of a general observation: I am very much in favor of ripping the hard work of well-intentioned people to sheds, if it deserved to be ripped to shreds, like e.g. the fine "make proper God-fearing Christians of all those dark-skinned heathens" (the missionaries were/still are quite often well-intentioned and hard-working). Now, some of the stuff that is done, well-intentione…
I agree with you broadly, but I think there are a few nuances here that make all of the difference.
The first is that I feel that text is an AWFUL medium for communication for these sorts of discussions and criticisms, unless expertly crafted (as this article was, I feel). Numerous times I've had arguments with friends via text that get out of hand because of subtle misinterpretations of intent and phrasing, where as in person they're much more civilised. You can draw a few conclusions here: either we suck at communicating via text and need to get a lot better, or discussions of this nature are better had face to face, where intent and nuance of expression are easier (for many) to judge. What feels like normal discourse and 'clinical' (for lack of a better word) discussion to you may not feel the same way to others, simply because short-form text is an imperfect medium.
The other point of contention I have is that it's fine to treat diversity programs with scientific rigour, but you also need to allow for the proper timescales in which to study the effects. If you subscribe to an intersectional feminist viewpoint, then it stands to reason that you need to observe the success or failure of such diversity programs over a generational timescale in order to assess their efficacy. Change on that scale simply isn't going to be visible over a one or two year period before you decide the diversity program doesn't work and you axe it.
Re: The Empathy Gap in Tech: Interview with a Software Engineer
#28> Because contemporary moral codes delineate women as vulnerable or marginalised, we stop seeing them as individuals with unique talents and idiosyncrasies, but as representatives of a victimised class. The reverse is true of men. Because women are now a victimised class, men are increasingly seen as victimisers, irrespective of their individual attributes or actions. I cannot agree with this more. Very, very well ob…
I think these kinds of antagonisms are central to American society. Other parts of the world often find them alien and incomprehensible.
Not true - the Karpman drama triangle (victim-aggressor-rescuer) is a fundamentally human way of seeing the world (however dysfunctional and unhelpful) and so it is present all around the world, not just in the US. I would agree that based on what I read about it, the US seems to be particularly in the grip of this perspective though.
Re: The Empathy Gap in Tech: Interview with a Software Engineer
#29Majority of people in tech are not autistic stereotype. The actually autistic were definitely not among the best I have worked with.
Did you ask everyone you worked with if they were autistic, or is this based on gut feeling?
They did not displayed syptomps. They were able to to correctly guess other peoples emotions or imagine themselves in their situation. They did not had single minded obsession nor routines that must happen. You could negotiate with them easily. They were, otherwise said, normal.
Of course I might have missed some very mild case or something. And of course opposite, determining whether someone who kind of have some symptoms would be harder for non profesional. There were some where I suspect that and it did impacted work.
Nevertheless, majority of people were normal, well adjusted with ordinary social lives and ordinary undrstanding of humans. That includes assholes I met - when your jerkiness is limited to those under you and you are charismatic treasure to bosses, you not autistic.
Re: The Empathy Gap in Tech: Interview with a Software Engineer
#30This article is going to rub lots of people the wrong way, I suspect, but it's level headed, well reasoned and well written. Although I ultimately disagree with some of the conclusions drawn at the end, (particularly: > Because contemporary moral codes delineate women as vulnerable or marginalised, we stop seeing them as individuals with unique talents and idiosyncrasies, but as representatives of a victimised class.…
You wrote:
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Although I ultimately disagree with some of the conclusions drawn at the end, (particularly:
"Because contemporary moral codes delineate women as vulnerable or marginalised, we stop seeing them as individuals with unique talents and idiosyncrasies, but as representatives of a victimised class."
Acknowledging that women are 'vulnerable or marginalised' shouldn't remove their individuality, you can easily have both --
How can you disagree with it? The author isn't saying this should happen, just that it does, even if this doesn't apply to you.