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What the Hell Is Up with Dilbert?

meghanboilard.substack.com

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Re: What the Hell Is Up with Dilbert?

#261

Post by ravenstine »

a_shovel wrote: post #228
jrockway wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've taken unconscious bias training. I thought it was very good. I remember catching myself in some meeting talking over a quiet woman who had probably been wanting to talk for quite a while. My brain remembered the training, I shut up, and let her participate in the meeting as an equal. Without the training, I would probably be silently making people miserable. Now I don't do that, as much. You use the word "pseudo…

"Unconscious bias" is a really strange thing to call pseudoscience. What would it even mean for unconscious bias to be pseudoscience? That believing oneself to be unbiased is absolute proof of being unbiased?

There's unconscious bias, which is real (that really is a job of the human brain, actually), and then there's unconscious bias testing and training. Like I mentioned elsewhere, I've got ~ 9 minutes until an interview I'll have to attend for multiple hours so I can't adequately respond, but my perspective on unconscious bias is one of skepticism that said bias can be reliably tested for and whether the training is free of negative side effects.

Re: What the Hell Is Up with Dilbert?

#262

Post by Rand4ObvReasons »

mathattack wrote: post #221
jrockway wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've taken unconscious bias training. I thought it was very good. I remember catching myself in some meeting talking over a quiet woman who had probably been wanting to talk for quite a while. My brain remembered the training, I shut up, and let her participate in the meeting as an equal. Without the training, I would probably be silently making people miserable. Now I don't do that, as much. You use the word "pseudo…

It’s entirely possible that all of the following are true: 0 - Many groups have historically and currently been victims of bias. 1 - Good anti-bias training makes us better managers and colleagues. 2 - Psychology research is on much weaker footing (replicability) than most of us would like. 3 - One of the quickest ways to limit your career at a company is to point out when they are going overboard on Diversity and In…

This. I believe in bias busting, but when I created a random account to anonymously share cases of blatant illegal discrimination (not accepting resumes based on gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation) but because it was against the minority I was downvoted

Re: What the Hell Is Up with Dilbert?

#263

Post by yucky »

jacquesm wrote: post #49
rcarmo wrote: post #24

I used to love Dilbert because it echoed (down to every single minute detail) my work environment (which, like Adams', was a telco). Then it became creepy because it anticipated everything that was coming to pass (sometimes the very day, sometimes within a week, we'd have reorgs, discussions with Marketing, trips to our equivalent of Elbonia). The peak, for me, was when Dogbert was hailed as a cloud guru the week I s…

> it is just a cartoon, not a political essay It wouldn't be the first time that 'it's just a joke' got used to be able to get away with some very distasteful politics. I don't think Adams sees it as 'just a cartoon', when placed in context of his other writings (for instance: on twitter) it is clear that he's using Dilbert as a platform for politics.

No post body was provided.

Re: What the Hell Is Up with Dilbert?

#264

Post by NeonVice »

kemayo wrote: post #109

I used to read Dilbert when I was a kid in the 90s, which perhaps made me a weird kid. With that background, it's actually quite strange to see the examples of recent strips this article presents -- because they show the pointy-haired boss as the "reasonable" character. His role earlier on was almost-always as the deranged influence of management, causing problems for others. (I feel that a similar joke ~20 years ago…

The pointy-haired boss is still clueless. Now, the world around him is just nonsensically shifting in a way that also makes most of us feel clueless, so we can empathize.

Re: What the Hell Is Up with Dilbert?

#265

Post by mmmpop »

a_shovel wrote: post #167
ChildOfChaos wrote: post #99

I don't see any issues with the Dilbert strips highlighted. I've learned just to enjoy things that I find entertainment from and not follow there creators on twitter because that is usually just a recipe for disappointment. I'd rather avoid drama and division, i'd rather just brush my teeth than worry about what the CEO of my toothpaste brand thinks about politics, yes i'm all for fighting for justice and rights, but…

From the description of the second comic shown in the article: > ... Dave threatens to report PHB (Pointy-Haired Boss) to the company’s HR department should he misgender the new engineer. It is then implied that Dave has switched preferred pronouns with the intent of catching cohorts in a trap rather than out of any true reflection of self. There are at least a couple of things wrong with this, in my view. Do you int…

No post body was provided.

Re: What the Hell Is Up with Dilbert?

#266

Post by hirundo »

yonaguska wrote: post #47
kayodelycaon wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I kind of agree with this view. The problem I see Dilbert running into is the comic previously was aimed at corporate culture and specific jobs and stereotypes. In a way, it was punching up at more powerful, impersonal forces. Now, he appears to be punching down at people less powerful than him (individually) who have been fighting to get recognized. Despite these rather nasty policies governments and companies have…

How do you target harmful and ineffective policies without hitting a lot of innocent people though? Affirmative action is a harmful and ineffective policy, but if you speak out against it, you are racist. I'm not here to argue whether you agree with that or not, just using it as an example of something you simply can't criticize without offending innocent people. More to the task at hand though- I question if he's ev…

In the U.S. it is not generally illegal to discriminate on the basis of political beliefs.

Re: What the Hell Is Up with Dilbert?

#267

Post by nineplay »

Eupraxias wrote: post #120
gingerrr wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

....being worried about societal change is definitionally conservatism, did you mean something else by that?

I disagree. I have a good friend who is conservative about application of government (a 'fiscal conservative'), and very socially progressive. She is a registered Republican, and considers herself a "conservative". While she is actively dedicated to social progress, (supports gay marriage, believes in the right to abortion, etc.), she feels we will be most successful at achieving this goal with leadership who priorit…

How's that working out for her? If she has a functioning uterus than I hope she has backup plan for what to do when the government dictates her gynecological care.

> I suspect that many Republicans are in this camp.

They are delusional. At this point thinking that "fiscal conservativism" is coming anytime soon is about as rational as believing that the rapture is right around the corner. They should open their eyes and see what is actually happening in their country right now, not keep praying in front of the photo of Ronald Reagan in their personal shrine.

Re: What the Hell Is Up with Dilbert?

#268

Post by bediger4000 »

gadders wrote: post #234
bediger4000 wrote: post #3

The easy answer to the title question is that Scott Adams gained enough wealth that he lost touch. That seems to be a common experience of commercially successful artists. The author never explores this explanation.

If people with Fuck you money don't start saying "Fuck you!" then what's the point?

You've got a point, this is like the buddhist idea that without suffering, there's also no joy. However, the "fuck you" in that context is said to managers, bosses, employers and overseers. Adams, as a mass-market artist, will have trouble if he says "fuck you" to his audience. They're only indirectly his employers. As the audience notes, email feedback was key in "Dilbert's" early evolution and success. If Adams says "fuck you" to his audience, they have a means to say "fuck you" to him in return.

Re: What the Hell Is Up with Dilbert?

#269

Post by dahart »

ajot wrote: post #237
dahart wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hearsay from an unnamed relative printed in a tabloid is evidence? Even if it were true, what does a single case prove?

Well, sure it is a tabloid, but it's a real news from here. And I'm pretty sure it started a trend, even if it's not big enough to be reported yet.

Why is it real news? Why are you certain of this person’s story and motivation? What makes you sure it started a trend? Where are the other reports?

Re: What the Hell Is Up with Dilbert?

#270

Post by readthenotes1 »

jrockway wrote: post #132
ravenstine wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It really makes me wonder what the common experience is for others not just in tech but Corporate America in general. I myself have run into anti-white and anti-male phenomena, unconscious bias pseudoscience training, diversity pledges, and so on, as have now others in my peer group. Dilbert's commentary has so far been entirely appropriate based on my experience, hence it's puzzling to me when people think there's s…

I've taken unconscious bias training. I thought it was very good. I remember catching myself in some meeting talking over a quiet woman who had probably been wanting to talk for quite a while. My brain remembered the training, I shut up, and let her participate in the meeting as an equal. Without the training, I would probably be silently making people miserable. Now I don't do that, as much. You use the word "pseudo…

Some people also have insights from their astrological readings.

Even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and again. Doesn't mean it's less blind.

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