For some context, you might be interested to know that the author "left" his PhD program in part due to fallout from a department-wide presentation where he discussed masturbating to his female colleagues.
10 page anti-diversity screed circulating internally at Google
131–140 of 158 posts
Re: 10 page anti-diversity screed circulating internally at Google
#132This is not merely sexist. Amidst his rambling "evolutionary psychology" argument he also protests racial diversity programs.[1] And his explanation for that? It's buried here: "Left tends to deny science concerning biological differences between people (e.g., IQ and sex differences)." (emphasis mine) So women are bad at programming because of evolution and non-whites/asians are bad at it because they're dumb. Accord…
Why did you say women are bad at programming because of evolution and non-whites/asians are bad at it because they're dumb? I read his paper 3 times, and from what I can tell, that claim didn't exist until you made it. This is why we can't have honest conversations. By all means, disagree with things that he is saying, and engage him on any points that you feel need to be corrected. But don't disagree with things he…
> I read his paper 3 times, and from what I can tell, that claim didn't exist until you made it.
I literally directly cited the "paper", as you call it. Specifically "evolutionary psychology" and "IQ" explaining the gender and race performance gaps, respectively.
Re: 10 page anti-diversity screed circulating internally at Google
#133This is not merely sexist. Amidst his rambling "evolutionary psychology" argument he also protests racial diversity programs.[1] And his explanation for that? It's buried here: "Left tends to deny science concerning biological differences between people (e.g., IQ and sex differences)." (emphasis mine) So women are bad at programming because of evolution and non-whites/asians are bad at it because they're dumb. Accord…
How is that racist? Racist is "I think all Mexicans are dumb, so I won't hire any or even give them an interview. I hate Mexicans." Racism is not "Groups of humans evolved dramatically different physical characteristics, vulnerability to health conditions, ability to consume foods like lactose, and countless other characteristics. There's some evidence to suggest they may have different distributions of skills requir…
There is a long history of seeking pseudo-scientific explanations for racist beliefs. See for example, phrenology and eugenics.
I am actually glad that you concede that "cultures" can affect learning, not merely evolution. While most people usually use that term to blame minorities for their disadvantages (i.e. culture means "their" culture), it also means that you implicitly accept that living in a (shared) culture with systematic racism and discrimination over several centuries can perhaps negatively affect skill acquisition as well.
Re: 10 page anti-diversity screed circulating internally at Google
#134This is not merely sexist. Amidst his rambling "evolutionary psychology" argument he also protests racial diversity programs.[1] And his explanation for that? It's buried here: "Left tends to deny science concerning biological differences between people (e.g., IQ and sex differences)." (emphasis mine) So women are bad at programming because of evolution and non-whites/asians are bad at it because they're dumb. Accord…
Hold on, do you deny that IQ has a strong heritable component and that there's a well-documented IQ difference between different populations? Cause that's all he's saying, while also emphasizing that these statements mean little when referring to specific individuals.
Lots of problems connecting IQ with race and heritability, well researched. See for example:
the "heritability" of IQ - the degree to which IQ variations can be explained by genes - varies dramatically by socioeconomic class. Heritability among high-SES (socioeconomic status) kids was 0.72; in other words, genetic factors accounted for 72 percent of the variations in IQ, while shared environment accounted for only 15 percent. For low-SES kids, on the other hand, the relative influence of genes and environment was inverted: Estimated heritability was only 0.10, while shared environment explained 58 percent of IQ variations.[1]
[1] https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/05/why-peo...
Re: 10 page anti-diversity screed circulating internally at Google
#135Earlier quoted context omitted.
The white kids with single mothers in the trailer park who have fought for a chance to apply for these jobs might like a word with you.
Yes and luckily for them, they don't have to additionally suffer from systemic racial discrimination, which the equivalent member of a minority group frequently would have. Nowhere does it proclaim "If your X your life is hard, if you're Y your life is easy." What is said (roughly) is that for two people otherwise equivalent, if one is X and the other is Y, that in general , in current society life is additionally ha…
> that in general, in current society life is additionally harder for Xs - and this is due to for historical reasons.
In general, yes it is. But you aren't hiring people in general, you are hiring individuals. If you are trying to combat *ism than applying generalizations to individuals is exactly what you should be avoiding.
Re: 10 page anti-diversity screed circulating internally at Google
#136Simple response to his thesis: there used to be more women in programming... back when it was harder.
Which language/tools were they using? Serious question. I highly doubt your statement.
Those women were doing it back when there weren't any "languages", child. It was all on the bare metal. Without Rear Admiral Doctor Grace Murray Hopper you wouldn't even have a compiler.
Re: 10 page anti-diversity screed circulating internally at Google
#137Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think another reason we want to hire B is because if we have only As we are more susceptible to group think. It is good to have people of many different types to prevent that.
Is that really true though? Where I've worked, almost everyone was from an upper class or upper middle class background, grew up in a handful of superzip suburbs like Atherton/Scarsdale or high COL cities like NY, stable family life, attended a top tier university, had similar cultural interests or hobbies, read the same news sources, even had similar vices. They looked like a Benetton ad, but all acted exactly the s…
My last team was pretty diverse as far as country of origin (India, China, Brazil, Canada, Turkey, UK, many parts of the US), culture, ages, etc. I know some came from rural and some for lack of a better word 'white trash' upbringing. I will say we were mostly men though. It was a great team and I miss them.
Re: 10 page anti-diversity screed circulating internally at Google
#138Earlier quoted context omitted.
Im honestly a litte off foot here. Is this irony? Can somebody tell me that this ment seriously? In case its not irony, the harm never originated from the discussions- the "discussions" the had on eugenics and various other horrid things, where the same thing we have today. People wrapped in echo-chamber bubbles, glueing "evidence" to the wall of these echo-chambers. Its actually easy to identify such discussions. Th…
It is definitely not irony. If you have evidence that harm never once originated from people saying words, I'd love to see it. Otherwise, I think you're making an assertion that you'd like to be true. Discussions have effects. That's why we have them.
Words are not actions.
Even if you are linguist and coders, you must realize that the code is not the execution.
Re: 10 page anti-diversity screed circulating internally at Google
#139Earlier quoted context omitted.
How is that racist? Racist is "I think all Mexicans are dumb, so I won't hire any or even give them an interview. I hate Mexicans." Racism is not "Groups of humans evolved dramatically different physical characteristics, vulnerability to health conditions, ability to consume foods like lactose, and countless other characteristics. There's some evidence to suggest they may have different distributions of skills requir…
There is a long history of seeking pseudo-scientific explanations for racist beliefs. See for example, phrenology and eugenics. I am actually glad that you concede that "cultures" can affect learning, not merely evolution. While most people usually use that term to blame minorities for their disadvantages (i.e. culture means "their" culture), it also means that you implicitly accept that living in a (shared) culture…
Of course. There's rarely a single cause for anything.
But in today's world, real systematic discrimination in hiring and employment isn't likely to be the main driver at places like Google. When you're selecting for individuals several standard deviations above the mean in ability, even very slight shifts in the population mean dramatically affect the number you'll find at such a threshold. This is a touchy third-rail subject, one we'd probably do well not to discuss much, but when the alternative is constantly being told that you're racist or prejudiced, people will naturally want to fight back.
If the city police or local factory had extremely lopsided racial representation, I'd be much more inclined to believe it's due to prejudice. Any average person can do these jobs. Even if there are differences between groups, all groups would have a huge number of people around the average range.
And I'm not saying this out of some attempt to claim supremacy, justify prejudice, or advocate for eugenics. My family is from Portugal. If I had to wager, I wouldn't bet on Portuguese being at the top of the heap intellect-wise, on average. Look at who's winning the Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals--it's not people like me most of the time. Still, we should treat every person as an individual, with respect and dignity.
Re: 10 page anti-diversity screed circulating internally at Google
#140Earlier quoted context omitted.
Hold on, do you deny that IQ has a strong heritable component and that there's a well-documented IQ difference between different populations? Cause that's all he's saying, while also emphasizing that these statements mean little when referring to specific individuals.
Lots of problems connecting IQ with race and heritability, well researched. See for example: the "heritability" of IQ - the degree to which IQ variations can be explained by genes - varies dramatically by socioeconomic class. Heritability among high-SES (socioeconomic status) kids was 0.72; in other words, genetic factors accounted for 72 percent of the variations in IQ, while shared environment accounted for only 15…
This is evidence that we should invest more in early childhood enrichment and healthy food for the poor, so everyone can reach their potential. Genetics determine the capability of your engine, but you still need to feed it with gas.
It doesn’t justify lowering the bar for hiring, creating quota systems, or engaging in positive discrimination.