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How can he not understand the amount of damage he has caused not just inside of Google, but also within the tech community as a whole? He should have been fired

How can he not understand the amount of damage he has caused not just inside of Google, but also within the tech community as a whole? He should have been fired the moment he pressed the share button on the document.

Tenoke 9y ago
I see the damage he is doing, but he's bringing to light the speed at which some people (e.g. google and you) will try to censor any discussion on this topic, so it isn't obvious to me that he has done more harm than good.
jstanley 9y ago
He didn't cause any damage. People deliberately misinterpreting what he wrote caused damage.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- njloof 9y ago
  It's damage if it drives good engineers out of the company. By firing him the company is attempting to reduce the damage by indicating that this memo does not represent Google nor is it even under discussion.
- occultist_throw 9y ago
  Yeah, I heard he eats babies by the "progressive media" as well. Maybe I should believe that too, and be completely ignorant about the contents of the actual document.... <insert rage, anger, mad flailing of arms> ObOntopic: https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/3914586/Googles-Ideological-Echo-Chamber.pdf https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/3914586/Googles-I...
justinjlynn 9y ago
What exactly you mean by damage? I know this sounds like a troll question but I would like to understand what kind of effect you perceive the release of this person's memo has had and why you feel that effect was negative. I don't ask to debate, or even respond to your answer, but I would feel privileged to understand what you mean when you use that word.
ameister14 9y ago
I don't know, actually. I originally held the same opinion, but over the last few days I've gone down the rabbit-hole of neuroscience and social-psychological research and his points appear to have merit. The tech community is devoting a lot of time and effort to fight something that is possibly explained by lack of interest and not entrenched discrimination. That doesn't mean discrimination doesn't exist, because I've seen it a lot - Angels and VC's assuming a pitch meeting is a date and acting that way, unacceptable behavior in the workplace and women being harassed and shut out of opportunities for advancement in tech. All these must be dealt with. It's just the methods we're all using to end perceived discrimination might not actually be directed at the real parts of the problem. That was the whole point of his essay in the first place, I think.
matt_s 9y ago
Did he cause the damage or just shine a light on it? If what he claims is true, that women/minorities are being hired because of essentially affirmative action more than merit, wouldn't that be kind of a shock to people hired there that are in those categories? Wouldn't they start to wonder if they were hired because of skills or because Google is trying to get percentages right for EEO purposes? Would they also start to wonder if they are underpaid and treated differently because they might be a "quota" job? Yeah he probably went about it the wrong way. Probably would have got more positive traction to open a dialogue with senior management about the general topic and then bring his points up in a conversation instead of a written manifesto. Maybe he tried that already though, who knows.

Tenoke 9y ago

I see the damage he is doing, but he's bringing to light the speed at which some people (e.g. google and you) will try to censor any discussion on this topic, so it isn't obvious to me that he has done more harm than good.

jstanley 9y ago

He didn't cause any damage. People deliberately misinterpreting what he wrote caused damage.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
njloof 9y ago
It's damage if it drives good engineers out of the company. By firing him the company is attempting to reduce the damage by indicating that this memo does not represent Google nor is it even under discussion.
occultist_throw 9y ago
Yeah, I heard he eats babies by the "progressive media" as well. Maybe I should believe that too, and be completely ignorant about the contents of the actual document.... <insert rage, anger, mad flailing of arms> ObOntopic: https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/3914586/Googles-Ideological-Echo-Chamber.pdf https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/3914586/Googles-I...

justinjlynn 9y ago

What exactly you mean by damage? I know this sounds like a troll question but I would like to understand what kind of effect you perceive the release of this person's memo has had and why you feel that effect was negative. I don't ask to debate, or even respond to your answer, but I would feel privileged to understand what you mean when you use that word.

ameister14 9y ago

I don't know, actually. I originally held the same opinion, but over the last few days I've gone down the rabbit-hole of neuroscience and social-psychological research and his points appear to have merit. The tech community is devoting a lot of time and effort to fight something that is possibly explained by lack of interest and not entrenched discrimination. That doesn't mean discrimination doesn't exist, because I've seen it a lot - Angels and VC's assuming a pitch meeting is a date and acting that way, unacceptable behavior in the workplace and women being harassed and shut out of opportunities for advancement in tech. All these must be dealt with. It's just the methods we're all using to end perceived discrimination might not actually be directed at the real parts of the problem. That was the whole point of his essay in the first place, I think.

matt_s 9y ago

Did he cause the damage or just shine a light on it? If what he claims is true, that women/minorities are being hired because of essentially affirmative action more than merit, wouldn't that be kind of a shock to people hired there that are in those categories? Wouldn't they start to wonder if they were hired because of skills or because Google is trying to get percentages right for EEO purposes? Would they also start to wonder if they are underpaid and treated differently because they might be a "quota" job? Yeah he probably went about it the wrong way. Probably would have got more positive traction to open a dialogue with senior management about the general topic and then bring his points up in a conversation instead of a written manifesto. Maybe he tried that already though, who knows.