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Katie Bouman, the computer scientist behind the first black hole image

bbc.com

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Re: Katie Bouman, the computer scientist behind the first black hole image

#491

Post by gyrgtyn »

seaborn63 wrote: post #486
streb-lo wrote: post #313

Serious question HN: If Katie was a man do you think people would be going through git histories and their published papers trying to determine if she is being over-credited for her achievements?

I am not a female, but I am a bootcamp grad with no college degree working as a sw engineer. At almost every place I've worked at so far I've had co-workers go through my GitHub and then make comments about how I shouldn't be working there. I have no idea why people are doing this to Dr. Bouman, if it's gender related or not. Just stating my experiences. Just so I'm fair, my GitHub does suck.

that sucks and is very weird

Re: Katie Bouman, the computer scientist behind the first black hole image

#493

Post by pgreenspun »

The journalists and Facebookers who are excited about a person who has done some work as a computer programmer... how much would you have to pay them to sit through the first hour of an intro programming class? (Maybe coding is like public transit. People think it is a great idea for everyone other than themselves.)

Re: Katie Bouman, the computer scientist behind the first black hole image

#494

Post by seaborn63 »

gyrgtyn wrote: post #491
seaborn63 wrote: post #486

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am not a female, but I am a bootcamp grad with no college degree working as a sw engineer. At almost every place I've worked at so far I've had co-workers go through my GitHub and then make comments about how I shouldn't be working there. I have no idea why people are doing this to Dr. Bouman, if it's gender related or not. Just stating my experiences. Just so I'm fair, my GitHub does suck.

that sucks and is very weird

It does, but after some months of just taking what they said and keeping on smiling, they lose interest. Every time.

Some companies addressed it directly and some let it happen. It also was not every co-worker at every job. Just a select few personality types mainly.

Re: Katie Bouman, the computer scientist behind the first black hole image

#495

Post by CydeWeys »

newswriter99 wrote: post #368
streb-lo wrote: post #313

Serious question HN: If Katie was a man do you think people would be going through git histories and their published papers trying to determine if she is being over-credited for her achievements?

If Katie was a man, no one would care about her.

Bullshit, this discovery was front page news worldwide. It's ridiculous on its face to assert that recognition isn't given to male scientists, given how many famous male scientists there are.

Re: Katie Bouman, the computer scientist behind the first black hole image

#496

Post by bubblewrap »

telesilla wrote: post #389
tropo wrote: post #325

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your "lobbying for our new hire of managing director to be a woman" is fuel for rage and even return fire. I hope you can see how it might be used to justify discrimination in the other direction. You aren't being fair.

Your statement is ignorant of office and network politics: I work surrounded by men who communicate professionally with men, primarily. At conferences they drink and socialise with each other. It's harder as a woman to get into these networks. When there is an opening, this information spreads via the network. Which has few women in it. You may feel uncomfortable knowing the hiring process is weighted. But I feel unc…

It seems very likely that as a woman, you would have an easier time to get into those assumed networks (and so would other women). Don't believe all the propaganda.

Re: Katie Bouman, the computer scientist behind the first black hole image

#497

Post by throc3 »

sodafountan wrote: post #489
throc3 wrote: post #478

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are probably a dozen papers of this magnitude published each month across the sciences with multiple authors and github repos. Which of them have you dug into before? Any of them?

Considering how few I was aware of the answer is zero. Let me ask you something though, why was I made aware of this discovery and not the others? Was it because a woman participated?

papers from Science and Nature appear hear all the time.

Re: Katie Bouman, the computer scientist behind the first black hole image

#498

Post by throc3 »

araneae wrote: post #490
sodafountan wrote: post #489

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Considering how few I was aware of the answer is zero. Let me ask you something though, why was I made aware of this discovery and not the others? Was it because a woman participated?

Maybe because it's the first ever photo of a black hole, was widely anticipated, and was published by pretty much every news organisation and was on the cover of many of them, before any interviews with her came out?

I look forward to people digging into the publication record of every Nobel Laureate next year on this site, arguing about which of them were real.

Re: Katie Bouman, the computer scientist behind the first black hole image

#499

Post by charliepark »

bubblewrap wrote: post #485
hlurhhh wrote: post #452

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(FYI I'm not directing this anger at you dude, it's generalized) what the fuck don't people understand about a woman wanting a woman role model? I got the same questions asked to me in the Marissa Mayer thread a day or two ago. Like yeah I got some male role models too, but fuck I want some representation! Someone who I can relate to! Someone who I know went through what I did!

"Someone who I know went through what I did!" Which is what, exactly? What is so fundamental different abotu your experience? The immeasurable pain of being a minority in a group of people?

A few things. I wouldn't say these if I didn't think you had the capacity to listen and learn.

1. Your tone is excessively combative for Hacker News. If you're put off by my saying that, ask yourself what a non-combative way to take that in and reflect on it would be. As a concrete example, you said "What makes women unable to have male role models, but men able to have female role models?", in a thread after the OP had already replied to you that she had/has men as role models. It implies either that you aren't listening, or that you're being antagonistic for the sake of being antagonistic. Neither is welcome here.

2. Using phrases like "toxic feminism" make you sound intellectually feeble. Try to be more specific and concrete about what you're addressing without using charged words like that. Unironically using the phrase "toxic feminism" instantly undermines any argument you might make. Again, if your point really is to learn from / share with others, find ways to communicate that don't put up walls.

3. If you're legitimately interested in finding out about why representation matters — and I sincerely hope you are — this is a good piece on it: https://medium.com/@uxdiogenes/just-a-brown-hand-313db35230c...

Re: Katie Bouman, the computer scientist behind the first black hole image

#500

Post by mst »

sodafountan wrote: post #448
danso wrote: post #399

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Incredible, that a purported programmer/software engineer in 2019 thinks that someone's Github commit history is the sum total of all their work. Not only that, you seem to be completely ignorant of how to find someone's Github commits to repos that aren't owned by their account. https://github.com/achael/eht-imaging/graphs/contributors

You're right, I had assumed that the project that she was the owner of on her github portfolio was her primary contribution - I jumped to conclusions without digging any deeper and I'd delete the comment if Hacker News would let me.

I fear people are down voting you for having been wrong originally rather than for this comment.

Which is a shame, because we all do things this stupid sometimes and your frank admission of having done so is laudable.

Nil desperandum carborundum illegitimi.

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