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0 pointsrwcarlsen8y ago0 comments

I don't think he has a gross misunderstanding of the science. If you look at the example cartoon distributions he draws for gender differences - there is huge overlap. From my reading, he is advocating for non-discriminatory methods of trying to fix that gap. He's basically saying we shouldn't try to fix discrimination (that we think is bad) with discrimination (that we excuse as good).

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zzalpha8y ago

He acknowledges that in practice the gender differences are real, but small.

Then uses the existence of those small differences to justify fundamentally changing their hiring policies.

The latter does not follow from the former.

Again, as with the global warming debate, it makes a lot more sense to tackle the larger influencers first, before addressing these smaller factors.

rwcarlsenOP8y ago

I think his thesis is we shouldn't fix discrimination by actually perpetrating the same thing - just against a different group.

manicdee8y ago

If a see-saw is tipped to one side, you need to apply more weight to the other to balance it out. Nobody is suggesting that you can continue applying weight to the other end forever and still maintain balance, but you can't maintain balance unless you have some to start with.

Even achieving a 30/70 split in a male-dominated industry will help defuse some of the rampant masculinity which passes as social interaction (aka primate chest-beating). Having people around who think differently and don't want to conform to the established practices of pissing contests, dick-measuring and chest thumping will help establish better modes of operation and contribute to better decisions being made (no more buying product X because the saleswoman had huge breasts or the salesman displayed dominant primate behaviour).

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nodamage8y ago

If you have two equally qualified candidates but 90% of the time the male candidate is hired over the female candidate, and then you change your hiring practices to reduce that ratio to 50%, are you now discriminating against the male candidate? What if you literally reduce it to a coinflip?

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zzalpha8y ago

He acknowledges that in practice the gender differences are real, but small.

Then uses the existence of those small differences to justify fundamentally changing their hiring policies.

The latter does not follow from the former.

Again, as with the global warming debate, it makes a lot more sense to tackle the larger influencers first, before addressing these smaller factors.

rwcarlsenOP8y ago

I think his thesis is we shouldn't fix discrimination by actually perpetrating the same thing - just against a different group.

manicdee8y ago

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nodamage8y ago

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