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Why is Affirmative Action okay in every other industry and region but somehow when we take into account Silicon Valley it should be ignored. Bogus. As I’ve me

Why is Affirmative Action okay in every other industry and region but somehow when we take into account Silicon Valley it should be ignored. Bogus. As I’ve mentioned many times before there is no innovation without diversity. Agreed. How 'bout it. And while we're at it let me say that I'm appalled by the over-representation of black sprinters in track and field too. How can it be that they are so consistently and completely the best? There's obviously something amiss. The total number of gold medals and world records they own is astonishing and a perfect example of why more diversity is needed. How can there be any innovation in the sport without slow white guys like me adding my perspective 80 meters behind in a 100 meter race ? Pure human athletics and complex digital systems are very unforgiving in many of the same regards.

_pius 17y ago
How can there be any innovation in the sport without slow white guys like me adding my perspective 80 meters behind in a 100 meter race ? Right, because having a diverse team means hiring incompetent people. Trust me, the fact that you happen to be a slow white guy doesn't mean that I'm an intellectually slow black one. There are fast white people and smart black/Hispanic people: the fact that you aren't personally one of them, while sad, is certainly not an effective argument against a team or company recruiting from either group, respectively. Your metaphor is a canard, plain and simple.
- johnohara 17y ago
  Let me make my point more succinct. Digital systems could care less whether you're black, white, brown, red or yellow. If it turns out that one group is better than another at innovation, design and implementation then so be it. It's simple. Usain Bolt is the best because of hard work, talent, and a belief in himself. He doesn't need diversity. He's competing in an arena where pure performance is all that matters. If I could beat him I would. I can't. But I'm not running around crying foul because I'm under-represented. If the author of this blasted article wants to be part of some Silicon Valley success story then let her sit in the library or computer lab for years at a time like everybody else.
  - _pius 17y ago
    Digital systems could care less whether you're black, white, brown, red or yellow. This is a great point but it's not applicable here. I'd agree with your argument if the article were, for example, insinuating racism because code written by blacks and Hispanics had more bugs in it or had poor test coverage. That would be absurd; as you said, digital systems don't care about your race. Sadly, people usually do. Metrics like how fast you can run and how many users like your software are objective and essentially independent of race. The article wasn't talking about objective metrics like those but rather how many blacks and Hispanics are being hired — an area in which race-based discrimination is well-documented.

_pius 17y ago

How can there be any innovation in the sport without slow white guys like me adding my perspective 80 meters behind in a 100 meter race ? Right, because having a diverse team means hiring incompetent people. Trust me, the fact that you happen to be a slow white guy doesn't mean that I'm an intellectually slow black one. There are fast white people and smart black/Hispanic people: the fact that you aren't personally one of them, while sad, is certainly not an effective argument against a team or company recruiting from either group, respectively. Your metaphor is a canard, plain and simple.

johnohara 17y ago
Let me make my point more succinct. Digital systems could care less whether you're black, white, brown, red or yellow. If it turns out that one group is better than another at innovation, design and implementation then so be it. It's simple. Usain Bolt is the best because of hard work, talent, and a belief in himself. He doesn't need diversity. He's competing in an arena where pure performance is all that matters. If I could beat him I would. I can't. But I'm not running around crying foul because I'm under-represented. If the author of this blasted article wants to be part of some Silicon Valley success story then let her sit in the library or computer lab for years at a time like everybody else.
- _pius 17y ago
  Digital systems could care less whether you're black, white, brown, red or yellow. This is a great point but it's not applicable here. I'd agree with your argument if the article were, for example, insinuating racism because code written by blacks and Hispanics had more bugs in it or had poor test coverage. That would be absurd; as you said, digital systems don't care about your race. Sadly, people usually do. Metrics like how fast you can run and how many users like your software are objective and essentially independent of race. The article wasn't talking about objective metrics like those but rather how many blacks and Hispanics are being hired — an area in which race-based discrimination is well-documented.