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Stuff You Can't Say in Silicon Valley

elaineou.com

251–260 of 307 posts

Re: Stuff You Can't Say in Silicon Valley

#251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That’s not a good thing. It really depends on the context. For example, I think there's a certain kind of racist, sexist, and homophobic talk which simply adds nothing good to the world. I don't think it should be illegal necessarily, but I'm fine if people are ostracized for holding such views. I certainly don't want to be exposed to that kind of shit. And there are many situations which require learning and under…

Who decides what is the correct opinion and what is not? There is a reason why advanced societies are ruled by the rule of law and not the rule of the mob.

Since we're on the topic of questioning dogmas: is that the rule of law or the rules set by the biggest mob?

Re: Stuff You Can't Say in Silicon Valley

#252
post #58

You can say any of those things in Silicon Valley. I mean, people might make some judgments about you. But that happens whenever you state any opinion, especially if it isn't the mainstream. I think a lot of people are used to saying what's on their mind without consequence. They're used to other types of people remaining quiet on certain topics -- especially topics related to race, gender, and sexuality. And that's…

I think fact that you get fired if you bring up biology at your company's brown bag on diversity (a la Damore), means, just maybe, that you can't actually say some of those things.

Freedom of speech is not freedom from consequences. Damore made some factual statements (this is OK), but then attempted to draw some non-factual conclusions from those statements that made his continued employment impossible (what if he was part of a promotion or hiring committee for a female employee? his prior statements would be pretty damning)

Read Damore's treatise and replace every mention of gender with one of race, and see how it reads.

Re: Stuff You Can't Say in Silicon Valley

#255
post #58

You can say any of those things in Silicon Valley. I mean, people might make some judgments about you. But that happens whenever you state any opinion, especially if it isn't the mainstream. I think a lot of people are used to saying what's on their mind without consequence. They're used to other types of people remaining quiet on certain topics -- especially topics related to race, gender, and sexuality. And that's…

[deleted]

Re: Stuff You Can't Say in Silicon Valley

#256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Voices are being silenced. I think we've got to be cautious in defining what "being silenced" means. Because I see a world in which people are saying all sorts of things out loud. There was a protest with a bunch of people waving Nazi flags in a public park in Virginia a few months ago. I don't think people are being silenced. I think community norms are shifting quickly in many parts of the country and, again, it'…

“Silenced” here means any manner of active suppression (shaming, ridiculing, verbal abuse, social bullying, even physical violence, etc) of an idea, rather than simply (1) ignoring it on a personal level, or (2) responding to it with argument via evidence and reason. If an idea we disagree with is rare or harmless, we often ignore it. If an idea we disagree with is more common and worth refuting, we should respond to…

[deleted]

Re: Stuff You Can't Say in Silicon Valley

#257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So Stanford Medical School should retract this article about the overwhelming evidence of the biologically based cognitive differences between men and women then? http://stanmed.stanford.edu/2017spring/how-mens-and-womens-b... Science Denialism is just the new community norm, I guess.

Why is CS different from other disciplines and why did that only emerge in the mid-80s? https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/0*H5PrnnEAD7GteRHf .

It is the same as engineering, physics, and higher math

Re: Stuff You Can't Say in Silicon Valley

#258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So Stanford Medical School should retract this article about the overwhelming evidence of the biologically based cognitive differences between men and women then? http://stanmed.stanford.edu/2017spring/how-mens-and-womens-b... Science Denialism is just the new community norm, I guess.

I'm just hoping that amateurs with agendas, trying to cherry pick studies with outcomes they like, is not seen as science. Because they are ones that seem like anti-vaxxers to me.

You're calling this Stanford piece 'amateurs with agendas'?

> There was too much data pointing to the biological basis of sex-based cognitive differences to ignore, Halpern says. For one thing, the animal-research findings resonated with sex-based differences ascribed to people. These findings continue to accrue. In a study of 34 rhesus monkeys, for example, males strongly preferred toys with wheels over plush toys, whereas females found plush toys likable. It would be tough to argue that the monkeys’ parents bought them sex-typed toys or that simian society encourages its male offspring to play more with trucks. A much more recent study established that boys and girls 9 to 17 months old — an age when children show few if any signs of recognizing either their own or other children’s sex — nonetheless show marked differences in their preference for stereotypically male versus stereotypically female toys...

Re: Stuff You Can't Say in Silicon Valley

#259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“Silenced” here means any manner of active suppression (shaming, ridiculing, verbal abuse, social bullying, even physical violence, etc) of an idea, rather than simply (1) ignoring it on a personal level, or (2) responding to it with argument via evidence and reason. If an idea we disagree with is rare or harmless, we often ignore it. If an idea we disagree with is more common and worth refuting, we should respond to…

Rational argument doesn't scale, bots and memes scale. Blocklists do scale, and it's only because identity platforms (fb, twitter) are also locked down content control platforms that we haven't seen more global blocklists. I fully expect decentralised social behaviour blocklists to emerge in the near future. Who would want to (employ/socialise with/do business with) a (trumptard/libtard)? Why take the risk of employi…

Reminds me of that Black Mirror episode where you could block people. Sounds horrible.

Re: Stuff You Can't Say in Silicon Valley

#260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is CS different from other disciplines and why did that only emerge in the mid-80s? https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/0*H5PrnnEAD7GteRHf .

It is the same as engineering, physics, and higher math

No it isn't. Unfortunately, HN stripped the period off the end of that url.

    https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1600/0*H5PrnnEAD7GteRHf.

Edit: Better graph off of twitter: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DRIYIx7UQAEARX3.jpg:large
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