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I think the heart of the issue Sam is trying to address is that in today's society you can excel at one field and yet be hindered from success in it because you

I think the heart of the issue Sam is trying to address is that in today's society you can excel at one field and yet be hindered from success in it because you make a generalized statement that the majority of society disagrees with, in a field completely unrelated to the one you participate in. If a Nobel prize winning physicist speaks about the inferiority of gay people, he is not necessarily a "threat to their safety". You don't have to like him, you don't have to be friends with him -- hell I wouldn't. But he has a right to not be fired as a physics researcher, because he is good at it. If he was a student counselor you can bet he should be fired. If he actively discriminates against a gay physics student should he be fired? Absolutely. But I don't think he should be fired for simply holding the opinion. But he would be in todays world. That's the problem I have with the politics of today -- it's that people get fired or disregarded if they make even a statement that makes other people feel bad, and disaligns with the majority opinion.

bthornbury 9y ago
> disaligns with the majority opinion It doesn't even have to be the majority opinion. Just the opinion of someone with a loud enough voice. > But I don't think he should be fired for simply holding the opinion. But he would be in todays world. Sadly, he would be fired, publicly smeared, and become unemployable.
CalChris 9y ago
Such a physicist would hold tenure and would not summarily be fired for simply holding that opinion. From a random school somewhere on the web: > gross professional misconduct or serious failure of a faculty member to discharge his or her obligations
- bthornbury 9y ago
  Replace "physicist" with "software engineer"? Or any occupation X where his/her statement holds true?
- prepend 9y ago
  Tim Hunt, a Nobel winning biochemist with tenure, was fired for making sexist comments. It certainly happens. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/jun/11/nobel-laureate-sir-tim-hunt-resigns-trouble-with-girls-comments https://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/jun/11/nobel-laur...
  - CalChris 9y ago
    He actually resigned (rather quickly) but you have a point.

bthornbury 9y ago

> disaligns with the majority opinion It doesn't even have to be the majority opinion. Just the opinion of someone with a loud enough voice. > But I don't think he should be fired for simply holding the opinion. But he would be in todays world. Sadly, he would be fired, publicly smeared, and become unemployable.

CalChris 9y ago

Such a physicist would hold tenure and would not summarily be fired for simply holding that opinion. From a random school somewhere on the web: > gross professional misconduct or serious failure of a faculty member to discharge his or her obligations

bthornbury 9y ago
Replace "physicist" with "software engineer"? Or any occupation X where his/her statement holds true?
prepend 9y ago
Tim Hunt, a Nobel winning biochemist with tenure, was fired for making sexist comments. It certainly happens. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/jun/11/nobel-laureate-sir-tim-hunt-resigns-trouble-with-girls-comments https://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/jun/11/nobel-laur...
- CalChris 9y ago
  He actually resigned (rather quickly) but you have a point.