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I suspect Google, YouTube, YC, and many other Silicon Valley companies have followed a similar pattern: Step #1 Discriminate against the lower classes through

I suspect Google, YouTube, YC, and many other Silicon Valley companies have followed a similar pattern: Step #1 Discriminate against the lower classes through a biased hiring process that favors upper class people over more qualified members of the 99%. A system of "culture" tests, nepotism, and simple favoritism. The "elite" investors fund the "elite" founders which hire "elite" friends. Step #2 Realize your policy is classist and racist. Step #3 Disregard the idea of creating a merit-based system. Step #4 Commit explicit racism in an attempt to balance out your on-going racism. Step #5 Ignore classism entirely, despite it being the root cause.

stcredzero 9y ago
#6 Repeat Steps 3-5 until the problem is solved. EDIT: Also, double down on the ideological fervor until th problem is solved.
ttoinou 9y ago
Did you run a business that hired employees without biases, word of mouth, entry tests and friendly cronyism ? Show us the right path
- spicymaki 9y ago
  I am curious too. Some commentators are saying well if you just make discrimination not happen anymore then there will be no discrimination. Problem solved!
notacoward 9y ago
"Merit" as defined by whom, and measured how? I doubt that many companies disregard the idea of hiring based on merit. They all try to do that, they were trying to do that all along, but that only got them to your step 2. So what do you when even your best effort to create a purely merit-based system has empirically failed to overcome unconscious or structural bias? What's your magic prescription?
- elihu 9y ago
  One way to be more meritocratic is to not allow certain kinds of information to influence the hiring decision. For instance, suppose the ones making the decision are allowed to know what the candidate's skills are and what they've done, but not allowed to know where (or if) they went to school, and they're not allowed to know if their previous experience came from an employer or if it was something they did on their own, or how many years they spent doing those things. Making the hiring decision would be harder because there's not as much information to go on, and it's not too hard to fake a superficial understanding of some technology. Presumably one would rely more heavily on rigorous aptitude testing (i.e. more of those whiteboard exercises everyone seems to hate and probably have bias problems of their own).

stcredzero 9y ago

#6 Repeat Steps 3-5 until the problem is solved. EDIT: Also, double down on the ideological fervor until th problem is solved.

ttoinou 9y ago

Did you run a business that hired employees without biases, word of mouth, entry tests and friendly cronyism ? Show us the right path

spicymaki 9y ago
I am curious too. Some commentators are saying well if you just make discrimination not happen anymore then there will be no discrimination. Problem solved!

notacoward 9y ago

"Merit" as defined by whom, and measured how? I doubt that many companies disregard the idea of hiring based on merit. They all try to do that, they were trying to do that all along, but that only got them to your step 2. So what do you when even your best effort to create a purely merit-based system has empirically failed to overcome unconscious or structural bias? What's your magic prescription?

elihu 9y ago
One way to be more meritocratic is to not allow certain kinds of information to influence the hiring decision. For instance, suppose the ones making the decision are allowed to know what the candidate's skills are and what they've done, but not allowed to know where (or if) they went to school, and they're not allowed to know if their previous experience came from an employer or if it was something they did on their own, or how many years they spent doing those things. Making the hiring decision would be harder because there's not as much information to go on, and it's not too hard to fake a superficial understanding of some technology. Presumably one would rely more heavily on rigorous aptitude testing (i.e. more of those whiteboard exercises everyone seems to hate and probably have bias problems of their own).