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A math professor who objects to diversity statements

theatlantic.com

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Re: A math professor who objects to diversity statements

#91

Post by Freedom2 »

schneems wrote: post #74
ilaksh wrote: post #41

I hope more people will pick up on the danger of this slippery slope. Part of the problem though is that we seem to have a tendency towards polar vortices of worldviews that suck in various issues that aren't even necessarily strongly connected, just to make them more effective in opposing the other side in an excessively concentrated way. So there is this tendency of social activists towards conformance and centrali…

> we seem to have a tendency towards polar vortices of worldviews First past the poll voting with primaries encourages (forces) politicians to go to the extremes. Ranked choice voting can reduce extremism. It’s also cheaper for tax payers as it eliminates expensive and wildly discriminatory/disenfranchising runoff elections.

Many Americans already don't understand progressive tax as a concept. How can we realistically expect them to understand ranked choice voting?

Re: A math professor who objects to diversity statements

#92

Post by marcosdumay »

chihuahua wrote: post #42
curtisblaine wrote: post #11

"Silence is violence" is the most authoritarian argument possible: it forces you to voluntarily identify your side, even if you refuse to do so. There's a reason why voting is secret: because no one should be forced to suffer consequences for their ideas. Forcing people to out themselves is bad, and it's time to ostracize who does it (along with those who incite mob pressure to fire wrong-thinkers, or to ban speakers…

"Silence is violence" would fit in very well in George Orwell's "1984". If you're not proclaiming the party line incessantly, you're an enemy of the people.

That except from the declaration looks like it was taken directly from the confessions the "criminals" are forced to do in 1984.

But well, I guess they share the same roots.

Re: A math professor who objects to diversity statements

#93

Post by khzw8yyy »

bglazer wrote: post #57
zephrx1111 wrote: post #28

Diversity is based on the belief that some group‘s behavior patterns are fitting better with the environment, even temporarily and locally. But DEI is denying this difference, expecting any behavioral pattern should deserve the same result. They can’t even reach a logic consistency.

No, you’re wrong. Belief in “diversity” is the belief that many different groups/identities can contribute, and that none are strictly “best”. DEI is an effort to include more groups in institutions, in order to benefit from the mixing of ideas that results.

It's like buying a dozen Ford F-150s in different colors and claiming a diverse mix of capability.

After all, the elite applicants all have essentially the same background and identity, and the only difference is skin color.

Downvote away!

Re: A math professor who objects to diversity statements

#94

Post by cubefox »

coliveira wrote: post #80
cubefox wrote: post #69

The main problem with regarding diversity as a value in itself is that it is incompatible with meritocracy. If one wants to give preferential treatment to "diverse" individuals, one cannot at the same time prefer more capable individuals, since the two properties are far from perfectly correlated.

Capitalism is also incompatible with meritocracy, otherwise how to explain that the children of rich people will have better education and socialization than the rest of the population? Do they have more merit simply because of the womb they came from? Are they better than an equally capable person born in an underprivileged neighborhood?

Intelligence is indeed substantially heritable.

> The heritability of intelligence increases from about 20% in infancy to perhaps 80% in later adulthood.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4270739/

Re: A math professor who objects to diversity statements

#95

Post by chii »

schneems wrote: post #74
ilaksh wrote: post #41

I hope more people will pick up on the danger of this slippery slope. Part of the problem though is that we seem to have a tendency towards polar vortices of worldviews that suck in various issues that aren't even necessarily strongly connected, just to make them more effective in opposing the other side in an excessively concentrated way. So there is this tendency of social activists towards conformance and centrali…

> we seem to have a tendency towards polar vortices of worldviews First past the poll voting with primaries encourages (forces) politicians to go to the extremes. Ranked choice voting can reduce extremism. It’s also cheaper for tax payers as it eliminates expensive and wildly discriminatory/disenfranchising runoff elections.

> First past the poll

might be a typo, but it's first past the post , not poll; in case someone else gets it confused not knowing the term.

Re: A math professor who objects to diversity statements

#96

Post by sjwhevvvvvsj »

Dalewyn wrote: post #50
sjwhevvvvvsj wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The first time some people will see or touch a book is when they get to elementary school. Those people are set up to fail in life, and anybody growing up from birth in an environment with no books is disadvantaged. For generations it was literally illegal for one race of people to learn to read in the United States. This is unique in the world as well - an American innovation. That type of structural oppression actu…

>The first time some people will see or touch a book is when they get to elementary school. Those people are set up to fail in life, and anybody growing up from birth in an environment with no books is disadvantaged. That is the concern of the parents, there is nothing preventing anyone from reading if they are so inclined today. >We all exist within history, it’s not some bubble where what happened before your birth…

It’s impossible to read a book you don’t have access to. That’s the entire point, there was a multigenerational intentional program of making sure one race couldn’t read. The effects of it persist.

I think you aren’t engaging with this logically and are being emotional. Please try to think clearly and critically. You seem angry.

Re: A math professor who objects to diversity statements

#97

Post by coliveira »

Dalewyn wrote: post #50
sjwhevvvvvsj wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The first time some people will see or touch a book is when they get to elementary school. Those people are set up to fail in life, and anybody growing up from birth in an environment with no books is disadvantaged. For generations it was literally illegal for one race of people to learn to read in the United States. This is unique in the world as well - an American innovation. That type of structural oppression actu…

>The first time some people will see or touch a book is when they get to elementary school. Those people are set up to fail in life, and anybody growing up from birth in an environment with no books is disadvantaged. That is the concern of the parents, there is nothing preventing anyone from reading if they are so inclined today. >We all exist within history, it’s not some bubble where what happened before your birth…

> Blaming the peoples of today for sins committed by the peoples of yesterday only breed resentment.

The goal is not to blame anyone, instead it is creating a plain level field. White people only need to compete amongst themselves, so I'm pretty sure that the best will survive.

Re: A math professor who objects to diversity statements

#98

Post by coliveira »

cubefox wrote: post #94
coliveira wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Capitalism is also incompatible with meritocracy, otherwise how to explain that the children of rich people will have better education and socialization than the rest of the population? Do they have more merit simply because of the womb they came from? Are they better than an equally capable person born in an underprivileged neighborhood?

Intelligence is indeed substantially heritable. > The heritability of intelligence increases from about 20% in infancy to perhaps 80% in later adulthood. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4270739/

There are intelligent people in all levels of society and all cultures, so this changes nothing.

Re: A math professor who objects to diversity statements

#100

Post by dandanua »

The title says he objects to diversity, but the article states that "it isn’t diversity to which he objects".

The professor isn't consistent either. Yes, DEI is a sort of agreement between you and your current society. And yes, you will be punished (or forced out) if you don't agree to it. That doesn't mean the society is selecting conformists, who would sign anything giving them profits. It means the society wants people who agree with its established principles, that's all.

If a society ends up with people who would sell those principles for nothing - then it's the problem of the society and its principles. USSR collapsed for a reason. And yes, you may say it's because it was run by conformists who didn't believe in the principles they signed. But "the routine affirmation" (of communism) is not what caused this situation.

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