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It's interesting to note that the only reason this is a news story is because "a Google engineer" wrote it. If the essay had been published entirely anonymously

It's interesting to note that the only reason this is a news story is because "a Google engineer" wrote it. If the essay had been published entirely anonymously, then it would have attracted no attention at all, like a dozen similar essays. The story is the source, not the content.

JoshTriplett 9y ago
The story is not "a Google engineer wrote it". The story is "a large fraction of Google circulated and endorsed it". That's what makes this news.
- jerrylives 9y ago
  Have there been any articles / pieces about it from women working at Google? I'd be interested in hearing that perspective.
  - s73ver 9y ago
    Several of them have tweeted about it.
    - Barrin92 9y ago
      And they all were all pretty mad. Which naturally nobody here seems to care about while everyone is busy writing up ten paragraphs of apologia about this stupid mess of an essay.
- tptacek 9y ago
  A large fraction of Google circulated it. Is there evidence that a large fraction endorsed it? That's not remotely the impression I get.
  - camperman 9y ago
    More than a third of respondents to his survey either strongly or almost agreed with the documents point of view.
Danihan 9y ago
Are you sure? https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/02/18/s-f-tech-bro-writes-open-letter-to-mayor-i-shouldnt-have-to-see-the-pain-struggle-and-despair-of-homeless-people/?utm_term=.5572cdd5acbe https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/02/1... Justin Keller was a nobody.
- sbierwagen 9y ago
  Read the titles: S.F. ‘tech bro’ writes open letter to mayor: ‘I shouldn’t have to see the pain, struggle, and despair of homeless people’, ‘riff raff’ and Exclusive: Here's The Full 10-Page Anti-Diversity Screed Circulating Internally at Google [Updated] A news story presents novel recent events, given context by a narrative. The title of a piece informs the reader of that narrative. It is a given that when Breitbart posts an article about a shooting in Chicago, it's not about the shooting, it's about the narrative: Black people love doing murders. When people complain about right-wing media pushing crime stories, they're not saying that the crimes didn't happen, but that they object to the narrative being advanced. Here, the narrative is that "tech bros" are sexists, and that SF companies are filled with tech bros, who make racist products. (The Atlantic hot take explicitly states this: "The kind of computing systems that get made and used by people outside the industry, and with serious consequences, are a direct byproduct of the gross machismo of computing writ large. More women and minorities are needed in computing because the world would be better for their contributions—and because it might be much worse without them." Google has to have minority programmers, because otherwise Google will make sexist websites. This is something of an odd assertion-- you would figure that it would be much more important to change Google's management, but Brin, Page and Schmidt are important DNC donors, so the Atlantic can't suggest that their shares be seized.) An anonymous essay, on the other hand, would be one where the author doesn't identify himself as a white male Google employee first, and instead just talks about the actual issue at hand. Just look at the thread here, and the one earlier, about the essay itself. Many people agreeing with the author, and yet none of them are being roasted alive on social media. Why? Because nobody's started their comment with "I'm a VP at Microsoft, and I think that..." Without a hook for a narrative, the story would just be "sexists exist on the internet", which is very much not News.
  - 9y ago
dionidium 9y ago
It's only interesting because it was said in a context where you're not allowed to say it. This is a mainstream debate that has been undertaken without much controversy by mainstream social scientists. See, for example, this debate between Steven Pinker and Elizabeth Spelke: Steven Pinker & Elizabeth Spelke | The Science of Gender & Science | Mind Brain Behavior Discussion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Hb3oe7-PJ8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Hb3oe7-PJ8
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]

JoshTriplett 9y ago

The story is not "a Google engineer wrote it". The story is "a large fraction of Google circulated and endorsed it". That's what makes this news.

jerrylives 9y ago
Have there been any articles / pieces about it from women working at Google? I'd be interested in hearing that perspective.
- s73ver 9y ago
  Several of them have tweeted about it.
  - Barrin92 9y ago
    And they all were all pretty mad. Which naturally nobody here seems to care about while everyone is busy writing up ten paragraphs of apologia about this stupid mess of an essay.
tptacek 9y ago
A large fraction of Google circulated it. Is there evidence that a large fraction endorsed it? That's not remotely the impression I get.
- camperman 9y ago
  More than a third of respondents to his survey either strongly or almost agreed with the documents point of view.

Danihan 9y ago

Are you sure? https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/02/18/s-f-tech-bro-writes-open-letter-to-mayor-i-shouldnt-have-to-see-the-pain-struggle-and-despair-of-homeless-people/?utm_term=.5572cdd5acbe https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/02/1... Justin Keller was a nobody.

sbierwagen 9y ago
Read the titles: S.F. ‘tech bro’ writes open letter to mayor: ‘I shouldn’t have to see the pain, struggle, and despair of homeless people’, ‘riff raff’ and Exclusive: Here's The Full 10-Page Anti-Diversity Screed Circulating Internally at Google [Updated] A news story presents novel recent events, given context by a narrative. The title of a piece informs the reader of that narrative. It is a given that when Breitbart posts an article about a shooting in Chicago, it's not about the shooting, it's about the narrative: Black people love doing murders. When people complain about right-wing media pushing crime stories, they're not saying that the crimes didn't happen, but that they object to the narrative being advanced. Here, the narrative is that "tech bros" are sexists, and that SF companies are filled with tech bros, who make racist products. (The Atlantic hot take explicitly states this: "The kind of computing systems that get made and used by people outside the industry, and with serious consequences, are a direct byproduct of the gross machismo of computing writ large. More women and minorities are needed in computing because the world would be better for their contributions—and because it might be much worse without them." Google has to have minority programmers, because otherwise Google will make sexist websites. This is something of an odd assertion-- you would figure that it would be much more important to change Google's management, but Brin, Page and Schmidt are important DNC donors, so the Atlantic can't suggest that their shares be seized.) An anonymous essay, on the other hand, would be one where the author doesn't identify himself as a white male Google employee first, and instead just talks about the actual issue at hand. Just look at the thread here, and the one earlier, about the essay itself. Many people agreeing with the author, and yet none of them are being roasted alive on social media. Why? Because nobody's started their comment with "I'm a VP at Microsoft, and I think that..." Without a hook for a narrative, the story would just be "sexists exist on the internet", which is very much not News.
- 9y ago

dionidium 9y ago

It's only interesting because it was said in a context where you're not allowed to say it. This is a mainstream debate that has been undertaken without much controversy by mainstream social scientists. See, for example, this debate between Steven Pinker and Elizabeth Spelke: Steven Pinker & Elizabeth Spelke | The Science of Gender & Science | Mind Brain Behavior Discussion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Hb3oe7-PJ8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Hb3oe7-PJ8

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]