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This is magical thinking. If I just wish it to go away it will … sorry, that’s not how the world works. Past oppression, even if it didn’t exist anymore today

by arrrg 11y ago

This is magical thinking. If I just wish it to go away it will … sorry, that’s not how the world works. Past oppression, even if it didn’t exist anymore today (but it actually still does, so even that doesn’t work out!) extends from the past into the future! That’s what’s so devilish about it. You cannot just be gender/color/whateverblind and hope the problem will just go away. You have to actively work to make the world a better place.

scrollaway 11y ago
> This is magical thinking. If I just wish it to go away it will … sorry, that’s not how the world works. And it's not what I said. I said caring so much about gender just serves to reinforce the problem. You're more likely to get results ignoring it than focusing SO MUCH on it and forcing quotas. The article explains why really well. But yeah, well done on disregarding the rest of my post. I don't know why I bother writing more than 140 characters if it's just to get cherry-picked.
- arrrg 11y ago
  But that’s exactly what I say! You are engaging in magical thinking. Wishing the problem to go away won’t make it so! Really not, that’s not how the world works and that’s not how past oppression extends into the now. You have to care about this and think about this deeply. I also agree that quotas are a dirty and inelegant solution and I always love to hear alternate approaches (e.g. two-phase selection process including first a call for papers plus targeted outreach followed by a blind review phase), but the point is you have to think deeply about the problem and actually engage with it deeply. It’s a hard problem – just wishing it to go away won’t make it so. That’s magical thinking. You have to think about it more not less. Also, quotas, while a very dirty solution, are to my mind a hell of a lot better than status quo. But as I said, I’m sure it’s possible to do better than quotas – but not by just ignoring the problem.
  - scrollaway 11y ago
    You're reading something in what I write which isn't actually there. It's possible you're either looking for a wrong opinion to correct, or it's possible I'm just really bad at explaining myself. I did read what I wrote again and nowhere do I say that we should all just "wish" the problem away. Please try to read everything in context.

by arrrg 11y ago

scrollaway 11y ago

> This is magical thinking. If I just wish it to go away it will … sorry, that’s not how the world works. And it's not what I said. I said caring so much about gender just serves to reinforce the problem. You're more likely to get results ignoring it than focusing SO MUCH on it and forcing quotas. The article explains why really well. But yeah, well done on disregarding the rest of my post. I don't know why I bother writing more than 140 characters if it's just to get cherry-picked.

arrrg 11y ago
But that’s exactly what I say! You are engaging in magical thinking. Wishing the problem to go away won’t make it so! Really not, that’s not how the world works and that’s not how past oppression extends into the now. You have to care about this and think about this deeply. I also agree that quotas are a dirty and inelegant solution and I always love to hear alternate approaches (e.g. two-phase selection process including first a call for papers plus targeted outreach followed by a blind review phase), but the point is you have to think deeply about the problem and actually engage with it deeply. It’s a hard problem – just wishing it to go away won’t make it so. That’s magical thinking. You have to think about it more not less. Also, quotas, while a very dirty solution, are to my mind a hell of a lot better than status quo. But as I said, I’m sure it’s possible to do better than quotas – but not by just ignoring the problem.
- scrollaway 11y ago
  You're reading something in what I write which isn't actually there. It's possible you're either looking for a wrong opinion to correct, or it's possible I'm just really bad at explaining myself. I did read what I wrote again and nowhere do I say that we should all just "wish" the problem away. Please try to read everything in context.