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I always felt that the fact that the tech industry is so welcome to techies and people with "aspie"-type personalities, indicates that in fact we as an industry

I always felt that the fact that the tech industry is so welcome to techies and people with "aspie"-type personalities, indicates that in fact we as an industry have more empathy than other industries (or social groups) that shun these types of people (myself included) for what I believe are very superficial reasons. So, I think the title of the article is extremely biased and draws the wrong conclusions from the writer's own research.

probably_wrong 9y ago
I'll have to disagree with your conclusion. If a group is composed mostly of members of a shunned social group, do they have more empathy than others just because they are friendlier to members of that specific shunned social group? I am immensely grateful for the nerd-friendliness of the tech industry, as I spent my teen years being mocked for being a nerd. But if the tech industry has a higher-than-average number of members who are slightly anti-social, is it really surprising when people accuse this group of having little empathy to members of other social groups? It is entirely possible for the tech industry to be nerd-friendly and women-hostile at the same time. I'm not saying it is the case, but it could be. And while I've been vocal against the idea of "hide the nerds so girls won't be scared of joining CS programs", I think it's worth considering whether we are being welcoming enough.
- infinity0 9y ago
  I never said techies have "more empathy". I'm just pointing out the hypocrisy of media attack-pieces blasting techies for having "less empathy", something that is entirely at odds with my own experience. edit: apparently I did say that. It was in reaction to an inflammatory title I feel is deeply wrong. People, including the writers of articles like "techies aren't empathetic", like to talk about virtues like "empathy" and apply them positively or negatively to groups they feel part of / outside of. Much of the time, it has nothing to do with the actual virtue, but with this tribalistic instinct of being part of or outside of different groups. Pretending the discussion is about "empathy" is really doing a disservice to analysis of social groups. Some less-systematic people are annoyed that more-systematic people do better within the tech industry, which in today's world is becoming more and more important for economic success. So they want to explain this away as "more-systematic people are less empathetic". What is actually the case, is "more-systematic people are less empathetic to less-systematic behaviour". But we're plenty-empathetic to people that "get us". And in the other direction, people that this author assumes are "more empathetic" are actually really really extremely non-empathetic to more-systematic people. edit: assumed the article was another "techies are less empathetic" hit-job, but turns out it is making a different point from all the rest
- fapjacks 9y ago
  Before ascribing a mere "nerd-friendliness" to the tech industry, don't ever forget that the tech industry exists because of the nerds and without nerds there would be no tech industry. Everybody else involved in tech is just there as a byproduct of the nerds.
Joeboy 9y ago
The title is a clever misdirection. In the article, it refers to a (claimed) tendency for society at large to react more empathically to perceived discomfort among women than among men. Edit: Although according to wikipedia "empathy gap" seems to mean something quite different from either what I was expecting or the way it's used in the article.
- infinity0 9y ago
  Given all the recent articles about "techies have less empathy" I stopped reading before I got to the end, assuming it would be another one of those. But thanks for pointing out that in fact it was talking about something else (and I largely agree). Yes, wikipedia's "empathy gap" does seem to be talking about something else yet again.

probably_wrong 9y ago

I'll have to disagree with your conclusion. If a group is composed mostly of members of a shunned social group, do they have more empathy than others just because they are friendlier to members of that specific shunned social group? I am immensely grateful for the nerd-friendliness of the tech industry, as I spent my teen years being mocked for being a nerd. But if the tech industry has a higher-than-average number of members who are slightly anti-social, is it really surprising when people accuse this group of having little empathy to members of other social groups? It is entirely possible for the tech industry to be nerd-friendly and women-hostile at the same time. I'm not saying it is the case, but it could be. And while I've been vocal against the idea of "hide the nerds so girls won't be scared of joining CS programs", I think it's worth considering whether we are being welcoming enough.

infinity0 9y ago
I never said techies have "more empathy". I'm just pointing out the hypocrisy of media attack-pieces blasting techies for having "less empathy", something that is entirely at odds with my own experience. edit: apparently I did say that. It was in reaction to an inflammatory title I feel is deeply wrong. People, including the writers of articles like "techies aren't empathetic", like to talk about virtues like "empathy" and apply them positively or negatively to groups they feel part of / outside of. Much of the time, it has nothing to do with the actual virtue, but with this tribalistic instinct of being part of or outside of different groups. Pretending the discussion is about "empathy" is really doing a disservice to analysis of social groups. Some less-systematic people are annoyed that more-systematic people do better within the tech industry, which in today's world is becoming more and more important for economic success. So they want to explain this away as "more-systematic people are less empathetic". What is actually the case, is "more-systematic people are less empathetic to less-systematic behaviour". But we're plenty-empathetic to people that "get us". And in the other direction, people that this author assumes are "more empathetic" are actually really really extremely non-empathetic to more-systematic people. edit: assumed the article was another "techies are less empathetic" hit-job, but turns out it is making a different point from all the rest
fapjacks 9y ago
Before ascribing a mere "nerd-friendliness" to the tech industry, don't ever forget that the tech industry exists because of the nerds and without nerds there would be no tech industry. Everybody else involved in tech is just there as a byproduct of the nerds.

Joeboy 9y ago

The title is a clever misdirection. In the article, it refers to a (claimed) tendency for society at large to react more empathically to perceived discomfort among women than among men. Edit: Although according to wikipedia "empathy gap" seems to mean something quite different from either what I was expecting or the way it's used in the article.

infinity0 9y ago
Given all the recent articles about "techies have less empathy" I stopped reading before I got to the end, assuming it would be another one of those. But thanks for pointing out that in fact it was talking about something else (and I largely agree). Yes, wikipedia's "empathy gap" does seem to be talking about something else yet again.