One Google Staffer Fired, Two Others Put on Leave Amid Tensions

Post by x220 » Wed, Nov 13, 2019, 10:57 AM UTC

nearbuy wrote: post #149

thephyber wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> just weird that people demand that their job adheres to whatever weird thing they like. This was literally a selling point at Google: > Larry Page and Sergey Brin ... had designed their company's famously open culture to facilitate free thinking. Employees were “obligated to dissent” if they saw something they disagreed with, and they were encouraged to “bring their whole selves” to work rather than check their pol…

> Larry Page and Sergey Brin ... had designed their company's famously open culture to facilitate free thinking. Employees were “obligated to dissent” if they saw something they disagreed with, and they were encouraged to “bring their whole selves” to work rather than check their politics and personal lives at the door. Seems like James Damore took their advice.

Post by x220 » Wed, Nov 13, 2019, 11:00 AM UTC

Briel wrote: post #25

This was an interesting in-depth article about series of leaks and internal turmoil that Google experienced: https://www.wired.com/story/inside-google-three-years-misery... 1. Soon after, on the plane ride back from a work trip to China, Damore wrote a 10-page memo arguing that biological differences could help explain why there were fewer female engineers at Google, and therefore the company's attempts to reach gend…

Post by x220 » Wed, Nov 13, 2019, 11:03 AM UTC

inferiorhuman wrote: post #119

javagram wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you’re already keeping your social media protected/private, that seems like a pretty good sign that you’re not a political troublemaker or activist. Private social media accounts don’t have virality or reach. I keep my own twitter and facebook private because I have no interest in accidentally igniting a feeding frenzy if I post something wrong on social media. But it’s equally true that if I wanted to make a fuss…

If you’re already keeping your social media protected/private, that seems like a pretty good sign that you’re not a political troublemaker or activist. How do you figure that? I keep most of my social media stuff private but I would happily participate in, for instance, a unionization campaign and I will vocally support the sorts of folks that people like Damore seek to condemn.

Post by dmos62 » Wed, Nov 13, 2019, 11:07 AM UTC

mkohlmyr wrote: post #217

dmos62 wrote: post #211

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is not being surveilled not in the interest of "general workers"? That's hard to answer, because what exactly is the worker? All groups and subgroups are divided to some extent; there will not be a conflict without multiple layers of subdivision. I agree that censorship of political discourse is a problem. Or religious, or of any subject. The "let's not talk politics amongst friends" (or at work) line of thought is a…

I'd love to live in a world where that was the case as well, but I'm not seeing much of that going around at the moment. And yes, I'd agree that in this case it could likely be considered a general workplace issue where most employees would be on the same side against the corporation. I think the original comment was talking more about the recent instances of protests however (don't do business with X, Y, Z because i…

Post by lotsofpulp » Wed, Nov 13, 2019, 11:19 AM UTC

normalnorm wrote: post #188

meowface wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is funny how cultures and legal systems differ. In US corporate culture, it's very ingrained that things done with company property belong solely to the company, and that the company has a right to look at company property and data at any time, for any reason. A big portion of one of my information security jobs involved looking at employees' browsing history and emails daily. Sometimes to investigate potential mi…

> No one has a feeling of their privacy being violated, because there's no expectation of privacy when using someone else's (the company's) property. Excellent. Now you only have to remove the expectation of privacy in any situation from the social norms, and another big problem will be solved. You will be able to live under total surveillance without anyone feeling that their privacy is being violated, because there…