7 ms·

Naming something "The Mom Test" in the current political environment is a choice.

khazhoux 5y ago
Is "is a choice" something the kids are saying these days? Never heard that expression. At any rate, at first I was worried that this was a sexist-agist reference, but in fact it's not at all. "Mom" is just used to represent someone who doesn't want to hurt your feelings.
- glenngillen 5y ago
  Yep. I thought the same thing originally, and then realized it's nothing of the sort. That I so quickly jumped to that assumption says more about me than the author :(
- jack335 5y ago
  Exactly in this case "Mom" just refers to a person who doesn't want to hurt your feelings and just tells you that every idea is awesome ;)
- klipt 5y ago
  The idea that mom (but not dad?) will lie to you in order not to hurt your feelings surely reflects biases about gender (aka sexism, albeit a mild form). The non biased version would use "parent" not "mom".
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
maxwellburson 5y ago
Why?
- michaelt 5y ago
  The risk hbeckpdx fears is: 1. Someone hasn't read the book and only glanced at the title. 2. That someone assumes the book says "test things on your mom, because there's nobody less tech-savvy than an older woman, yo momma so dumb she thinks a hamburger menu is something you get at McDonalds" 3. That someone, hoping to be an ally in the fight against gender and age discrimination in tech, takes offence at what they imagine the book says. 4. A mob of people who also haven't read the book destroy your career. Of course, we've got like 4 levels of hypothetical here - you're reading me, putting words into hbeckpdx's mouth, who is imagining an easily offended third party, who is imagining the contents of the book, which they imagine is offensive to a hypothetical mom. Whether you agree with hbeckpdx that this is a reasonable thing to fear is another question....
  - iamstupidsimple 5y ago
    Call it the 'dad test' then. Or even the 'sibling test' - because they're probably not technology experts. It literally means 'regular person test'...
    - newsbinator 5y ago
      Who are you calling a regular person? As if other people aren’t regular? How dare you. /s If somebody wants to be offended by combinations of words, no combination of words will deter them.
    - louisswiss 5y ago
      > It literally means 'regular person test'... The whole point is that it doesn't mean "regular person test'... It means "person who isn't the target customer and who probably cares about you too much to give unbiased feedback" test.
    - jhgb 5y ago
      Honestly, neither "mom test", "dad test", or "regular person test" gives me any idea whatsoever what this might be about.
  - deleted 5y ago
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deleted 5y ago
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newsbinator 5y ago
Is there any combination of words in the English language for a book title "in the current political environment" that would be beyond reproach?
- thaumasiotes 5y ago
  I Wrote This Book There are many options.
  - bzbarsky 5y ago
    "Centering yourself at the expense of the many others who contributed to the production and distribution of the book. Many of whom are PoC, you racist pig." Seriously, intelligent people who want to find fault with something can usually do it, given a flexible-enough fault-finding toolset. Which we have.
    - thaumasiotes 5y ago
      No worries; I made sure to run through a publisher who exclusively employs whites.
Ultcyber 5y ago
well, not all people live in the US
yololol 5y ago
Why? It is still true. Maybe in the future it won't be, but currently 99.99% of moms in this planet are not tech savvy, whether we like it or not. Remember that moms being born in the 1930s are still out there - not everything written has some hidden political intention. As we move forward, if more women happen to get interested into technology, this might change. But until then, jumping on someone for the sake of political correctness - because there may be a tech-savvy mom somewhere out there that you decided to defend, or because it shouldn't be true in your ideal world - is toxic. And as you see people are downvoting you for being this kind of person.

Is "is a choice" something the kids are saying these days? Never heard that expression. At any rate, at first I was worried that this was a sexist-agist reference, but in fact it's not at all. "Mom" is just used to represent someone who doesn't want to hurt your feelings.

glenngillen 5y ago
Yep. I thought the same thing originally, and then realized it's nothing of the sort. That I so quickly jumped to that assumption says more about me than the author :(
jack335 5y ago
Exactly in this case "Mom" just refers to a person who doesn't want to hurt your feelings and just tells you that every idea is awesome ;)
klipt 5y ago
The idea that mom (but not dad?) will lie to you in order not to hurt your feelings surely reflects biases about gender (aka sexism, albeit a mild form). The non biased version would use "parent" not "mom".
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

maxwellburson 5y ago

Why?

michaelt 5y ago
The risk hbeckpdx fears is: 1. Someone hasn't read the book and only glanced at the title. 2. That someone assumes the book says "test things on your mom, because there's nobody less tech-savvy than an older woman, yo momma so dumb she thinks a hamburger menu is something you get at McDonalds" 3. That someone, hoping to be an ally in the fight against gender and age discrimination in tech, takes offence at what they imagine the book says. 4. A mob of people who also haven't read the book destroy your career. Of course, we've got like 4 levels of hypothetical here - you're reading me, putting words into hbeckpdx's mouth, who is imagining an easily offended third party, who is imagining the contents of the book, which they imagine is offensive to a hypothetical mom. Whether you agree with hbeckpdx that this is a reasonable thing to fear is another question....
- iamstupidsimple 5y ago
  Call it the 'dad test' then. Or even the 'sibling test' - because they're probably not technology experts. It literally means 'regular person test'...
  - newsbinator 5y ago
    Who are you calling a regular person? As if other people aren’t regular? How dare you. /s If somebody wants to be offended by combinations of words, no combination of words will deter them.
  - louisswiss 5y ago
    > It literally means 'regular person test'... The whole point is that it doesn't mean "regular person test'... It means "person who isn't the target customer and who probably cares about you too much to give unbiased feedback" test.
  - jhgb 5y ago
    Honestly, neither "mom test", "dad test", or "regular person test" gives me any idea whatsoever what this might be about.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

newsbinator 5y ago

Is there any combination of words in the English language for a book title "in the current political environment" that would be beyond reproach?

thaumasiotes 5y ago
I Wrote This Book There are many options.
- bzbarsky 5y ago
  "Centering yourself at the expense of the many others who contributed to the production and distribution of the book. Many of whom are PoC, you racist pig." Seriously, intelligent people who want to find fault with something can usually do it, given a flexible-enough fault-finding toolset. Which we have.
  - thaumasiotes 5y ago
    No worries; I made sure to run through a publisher who exclusively employs whites.

Ultcyber 5y ago

well, not all people live in the US

yololol 5y ago

Why? It is still true. Maybe in the future it won't be, but currently 99.99% of moms in this planet are not tech savvy, whether we like it or not. Remember that moms being born in the 1930s are still out there - not everything written has some hidden political intention. As we move forward, if more women happen to get interested into technology, this might change. But until then, jumping on someone for the sake of political correctness - because there may be a tech-savvy mom somewhere out there that you decided to defend, or because it shouldn't be true in your ideal world - is toxic. And as you see people are downvoting you for being this kind of person.