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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

#131

Post by zmgsabst »

ltbarcly3 wrote: post #106
throwaway288112 wrote: post #89

Look, if you don't want an echo chamber on this topic, maybe consider the point of diversity statements. I can't put it better than Stephen Jay Gould: "I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops." Consider that a diversity statement is a way to evaluate if the applicant has…

I'll support your theory when I hear, even one time, a DEI leader mention poor white people. I grew up in a home with a mother who was an alcoholic and drug addict, and who had a parade of abusive boyfriends. There were times we didn't have electricity or water because it was turned off. We never had a telephone in the house or a working car. I studied Math in college. Literally every single other math major I knew h…

That’s because DIE is just apologetics for modern racism and colonialism:

Poor Whites, Jews, and Asians are acceptable sacrifices to the racists behind that movement — which resembles modern colonialism, eg, dividing a population by providing special privileges to an ethnic minority to ease your rule. Increasing rape and murder against natives in European countries is fine, as long as it disrupts their cultural coherence and makes them subjugated to groups like the WEF.

That’s why DIE was promoted by Wall St, WEF, et al: they wanted to end the class conscious discussion of their behavior, so they rebuilt the KKK, fostered grievance narratives, etc — as a way to bring the population to heel.

That’s frequently discussed in populist circles (eg, Jimmy Dore, Russell Brand, Vivek Ramaswathy) and why the working class is defecting from establishment politics (and particularly, the racist, neo-colonial Left).

Re: A math professor who objects to diversity statements

#132

Post by arduanika »

recursive wrote: post #99
jongjong wrote: post #84

[flagged]

I actually don't even have a guess which country you're thinking of.

Israel. GP is talking about Israel. They're observing a vibe shift and attributing it to a group that supposedly controls media. The whole "which shall not be named" is a giveaway for a certain unsavory filter on the world.

Re: A math professor who objects to diversity statements

#133

Post by zmgsabst »

ckemere wrote: post #126
ltbarcly3 wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll support your theory when I hear, even one time, a DEI leader mention poor white people. I grew up in a home with a mother who was an alcoholic and drug addict, and who had a parade of abusive boyfriends. There were times we didn't have electricity or water because it was turned off. We never had a telephone in the house or a working car. I studied Math in college. Literally every single other math major I knew h…

As a university professor, I can assure you that, in fact, “received food stamps growing up” and “first generation college student” are both identities that are specifically listed in DEI programs I am familiar with, for example special NIH fellowships for PhD sty to promote a diverse academia. I’m sorry that you were misinformed.

Probably because universities promote those programs exclusively on protected class, not circumstance.

To the point that I believe claiming they’re focused on circumstance is a polite fiction to give cover for the institutional bigotry the Supreme Court condemned at Harvard and UNC.

Re: A math professor who objects to diversity statements

#134

Post by bigstrat2003 »

bawolff wrote: post #67
danielvf wrote: post #52

Here's a scoring guide from a US university for DEI statements. To me it's much more informative to go to primary sources for what is selected for, rather than only reading about them second hand. https://ofew.berkeley.edu/recruitment/contributions-diversit...

Thanks,i agree its best to look at it directly. But i do wonder what lines like "Clearly formulates new ideas for advancing equity and inclusion at Berkeley and within their field, through their research,..." mean What does it mean for a math professor to advance diversity through their research? Like i could maybe get it for the arts or even some social sciences, but what does that look like for math?

Not only that, but it presupposes that diversity is a good in and of itself, which I think is quite false when it comes to diversity of physical characteristics (which is all that these initiatives ever care about). Diversity is neutral. It is just as erroneous to think that a group is enhanced by adding people just for their race (or gender, etc) as it is to think that a group is enhanced by excluding people just for their race (etc).

Re: A math professor who objects to diversity statements

#135

Post by ltbarcly3 »

ckemere wrote: post #126
ltbarcly3 wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll support your theory when I hear, even one time, a DEI leader mention poor white people. I grew up in a home with a mother who was an alcoholic and drug addict, and who had a parade of abusive boyfriends. There were times we didn't have electricity or water because it was turned off. We never had a telephone in the house or a working car. I studied Math in college. Literally every single other math major I knew h…

As a university professor, I can assure you that, in fact, “received food stamps growing up” and “first generation college student” are both identities that are specifically listed in DEI programs I am familiar with, for example special NIH fellowships for PhD sty to promote a diverse academia. I’m sorry that you were misinformed.

You are the one that is misinformed.

Here is the DEI dashboard for my university. Please point out where “received food stamps growing up” and “first generation college student” are mentioned? Because, very obviously, they only care about ethnicity and gender.

https://www.usmd.edu/IRIS/Dashboard/Diversity-and-Inclusion/...

Re: A math professor who objects to diversity statements

#136

Post by AlbertCory »

shermantanktop wrote: post #121
AlbertCory wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think we can call that an ad hominem attack: "This person sounds like other people I don't like. Therefore I don't like him."

The force of an argument should rest on what someone says, not their special backstory or whatever lurid grim stories they can tell. If anything, I think the pattern I described is all about ad hominem credit, not attack. I don’t fully discount this persons experiences. But I’m wary of an appeal to emotion.

> they are larded with Cassandra-style predictions about how the junior administrator down the hall is the first step toward the KGB

"larded" : kinda strong, don't you think?

also the florid ridicule: "the junior administrator down the hall", "the KGB"

Re: A math professor who objects to diversity statements

#137

Post by bigstrat2003 »

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?

You're attacking a strawman. The person you're replying to didn't claim that rich people's children are more meritorious simply by birth. If we assume good faith (which we should), the other poster would similarly be opposed to nepotism which grants unfair advantages.

Re: A math professor who objects to diversity statements

#138

Post by ltbarcly3 »

zmgsabst wrote: post #131
ltbarcly3 wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll support your theory when I hear, even one time, a DEI leader mention poor white people. I grew up in a home with a mother who was an alcoholic and drug addict, and who had a parade of abusive boyfriends. There were times we didn't have electricity or water because it was turned off. We never had a telephone in the house or a working car. I studied Math in college. Literally every single other math major I knew h…

That’s because DIE is just apologetics for modern racism and colonialism: Poor Whites, Jews, and Asians are acceptable sacrifices to the racists behind that movement — which resembles modern colonialism, eg, dividing a population by providing special privileges to an ethnic minority to ease your rule. Increasing rape and murder against natives in European countries is fine, as long as it disrupts their cultural coher…

This stuff you are saying is just ludicrous nonsense. The people you list are stupid assholes, especially Vivek who is a complete moron. There are plenty of reasons to worry about diversity, my point is it is done lazily as a game of 'less whites' because DEI programs are poorly run and it's easier for the low-iq, incompetent commissars who have been hired to run these programs to just go by what people look like. I don't think there is much of a coordinated agenda beyond incompetence.

Re: A math professor who objects to diversity statements

#139

Post by tacon »

Freedom2 wrote: post #91
schneems wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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?

Proof by example: Alaska already does ranked choice voting

https://www.elections.alaska.gov/RCV.php

Re: A math professor who objects to diversity statements

#140

Post by cjohnson318 »

ltbarcly3 wrote: post #106
throwaway288112 wrote: post #89

Look, if you don't want an echo chamber on this topic, maybe consider the point of diversity statements. I can't put it better than Stephen Jay Gould: "I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops." Consider that a diversity statement is a way to evaluate if the applicant has…

I'll support your theory when I hear, even one time, a DEI leader mention poor white people. I grew up in a home with a mother who was an alcoholic and drug addict, and who had a parade of abusive boyfriends. There were times we didn't have electricity or water because it was turned off. We never had a telephone in the house or a working car. I studied Math in college. Literally every single other math major I knew h…

I'm a white male from a very similar background. The thing that separates us from black and hispanic colleagues is that the white guys that are hiring automatically trust us 10x more than a black or hispanic candidate, regardless of where we came from, where we went to school, or how much money we had growing up. You might see a lot of diversity in PhD programs, but as soon as you step into a high paying professional role you're going to see maybe one black or hispanic colleague in 100. Now, I'll take any advantage I can get, but I also do my best to "hold the door open" for folks that face a lot more prejudice than I do; that don't get a carte blanche to reinvent themselves in an interview.
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