Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

A math professor who objects to diversity statements

theatlantic.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

231–240 of 328 posts

Re: A math professor who objects to diversity statements

#231

Post by ltbarcly3 »

zmgsabst wrote: post #164
ltbarcly3 wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I’m moved by your deep argument of baldly asserting things are “ludicrous nonsense” and calling people “stupid assholes” or “morons”. You’ve wowed me with the depths of your insight. Never mind that there’s an openly stated coordinated agenda by the largest financiers, such as BlockRock, to promote exactly those ideas through ESG programs — or that large international gatherings such as the one in Davos happening thi…

Yes, the narritives pushed by right wing popular internet personalities is nonsense. Sorry to be the one to tell you.

Re: A math professor who objects to diversity statements

#232

Post by asylteltine »

jballer wrote: post #90
mattlondon wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where I work the DEI training (mandatory, of course) has gone full-on bonkers. I am genuinely struggling to accept it is real and not some sort of massive joke or it was all some crazy fever-dream The thrust of the training is that now treating people "equally" or "fairly" is now racist. If you treat people fairly or equally you are liable for HR punishments. The training then goes on to list various accusations for…

You are not taking crazy pills. This comment perfectly tracks my thoughts upon confronting similar a couple years ago. The toughest part was that I didn’t know the words to name or describe it. I’ll +1 someone else’s recommendation of Tim Urban’s book “What’s Our Problem” - he dove into this rabbit hole and explained what he found, and it’s super approachable. For a deeper dive, Bill Ackman very publicly sharing his…

We have to oppose DEI by any means necessary

Re: A math professor who objects to diversity statements

#234

Post by amluto »

cjohnson318 wrote: post #179
amluto wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> high application rates Unfortunately, for a lot of groups, low application rates are part of the problem. Not enough people are encouraging members of these groups to apply and not enough members of these groups figure out on their own that applying to things are worthwhile. Everyone I met in college applied to college (of course!), but far too many had stories about how their high schools actively discouraged them…

Sure! But the GP was stating that unprivileged white males were applying, but being filtered out. There's a difference between being underrepresented due to a bias, and underrepresented because your cohort has opted out. Frankly, with the rising cost of a college education and the stagnation of income in a lot of fields, people should think long and hard about where they go to school and what they major in.

I interpreted “filtered out” to mean that they weren’t making it from childhood to college due to any of a number of factors, not necessarily that they applied and were rejected.

Re: A math professor who objects to diversity statements

#235

Post by p3rls »

cubefox wrote: post #77
loeg wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's the Kendi school of everything is racism.

It reminds me of my Catholic childhood. In church we regularly had to say prayers and creeds, which involved everyone confessing to having sinned, and reaffirming the absurdities we allegedly believed in.

In the year 3000 a schoolboy will find it hard to distinguish between a progressive and their jesuit/quaker antecedents.

Re: A math professor who objects to diversity statements

#236

Post by Snow_Falls »

Jensson wrote: post #145
js8 wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I largely agree with what you said, about > there is this tendency of social activists towards conformance and centralization in the direction of authoritarianism I don't think that's the case, actually. I suspect the tendency actually comes from liberalism, i.e. notion of individual freedom. If we are to give people individual freedom, then we are going to be neglectful of the power they attain as groups. This…

> Most of the left is more accepting of liberalism than liberals are accepting of the left This isn't true, it is legal to be a communist in capitalist countries but many communist countries made it illegal and imprisoned anyone who argued for capitalism. Liberalism wins when people get to vote and decide, people hate when their liberties gets taken away so you need to become authoritarian to push further than for ex…

The first statement is not true, there were many capitalist countries that simply murdered anyone left of centre. Hell, its illegal to be a communist in Germany!

Re: A math professor who objects to diversity statements

#238

Post by graemep »

tyre wrote: post #195
js8 wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can go much further and adopt more direct democratic approaches, for example, referendums, which focus more on actual issues than on which individual gets the power. This can also reduce extremism, as it requires (and causes) a wider debate (and thus mutual understanding) in society. There is a historic reason why US and UK suffer from this problem the most, because they were built primarily on liberalism and not…

counterpoint to referendums: Brexit, which has been a disaster for Britain.

You are evidence for the argument made by the comment you replied to.

You think it is more important that the right (in your opinion) decision is made than the decision the electorate prefers is made.

This is actually a general argument in favour of rule by an oligarchy of experts rather than democracy.

Re: A math professor who objects to diversity statements

#239

Post by AlbertCory »

shermantanktop wrote: post #197
AlbertCory wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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"

Can’t be helped. Florid is my brand.

You can't help yourself. Good to know.

Re: A math professor who objects to diversity statements

#240

Post by khzw8yyy »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #180
khzw8yyy wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can think of a few reasons. - Russians like poetry that actually rhymes - "The Jungle Book" and "Riki Tiki Tavi" were very popular - The controversial pieces like "The White Man's Burden" weren't translated until after Kipling's death Also, "The White Man's Burden" is viewed with a bit of distance. Few in America remember the context in which it was written, and that context is as important as the text of the poem…

> Russians like poetry that actually rhymes That's true of most people, but it seems unlikely to explain why they like particular poetry in a foreign language. It won't rhyme in translation. Kipling was a great writer; that seems sufficient to explain why people like his work.

It does rhyme in translation! And yes, there is a lot of hard work in taking a poem from another language, adapting it to not only not sound weird but also preserve as many of the little connotations of words, and then also making it rhyme. I admire a good translation as much as the original.
Post reply on HN