4 ms·

Why the term JEDI is problematic for Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

2 points by ogogmad 5y ago

ogogmad 5y ago
Reminds me of how some people now think that the term "blacklist" is discriminatory. To be honest, I could somewhat understand the people who found "master/slave" terminology insensitive. But with the term "blacklist" being interpreted racially, I think now is the time to start saying "no" to idiots who are looking for trouble. The suggestion that these terms took their original meaning from people's skin colour is absolutely bonkers; haven't light and dark been associated with safety and danger since forever? I don't think this is creeping fascism. I think it's worse: It's creeping idiocy. And it looks like companies and institutions are giving into these idiots out of sheer spinelessness and a desire to avoid trouble. I don't want to be dictated to by idiots, ever -- they should just be called what they are.
- LuisMondragon 5y ago
  I remember a discussion on Twitter about abolishing possesive pronouns, because they allegedly express a relation of power and, well, possession. Like, you shouldn't say "my wife" because she doesn't belong to you. The thing is this: for a lot of things we have experts, and we listen to them. We know we should listen to medical doctors instead of improvising uneducated opinions. In the case of language, there are also experts: linguists. They can educate us about the various uses of possesive pronouns, which express more than just a naive idea of possession. But somehow in this kind of heated discussions nobody consults linguists for guidance.
  - yongjik 5y ago
    > Like, you shouldn't say "my wife" because she doesn't belong to you. Random fun fact: in Korean you'd frequently say "our wife" even though you're her only husband. Also our son, our mom, or our house (even when you're the only one living in it). Maybe bring it up next time, and see their brains trying to process the info. :D
    - LuisMondragon 5y ago
      I watched Joe Rogan's interview with defector Yeonmi Park and, if I understood correctly, she said that this is the case in North Korea only, because the government banned the word "I"! You can't say "I like this", only "we like this". In South Korea people do use the first person singular. I hope a Korean person could correct me if I'm wrong.
      - yongjik 5y ago
        Wasn't Park Yeonmi the person who said American universities are worse than North Korea? I wouldn't take anything she said too seriously ... :) The Korean language does have "I/my" vs. "we/our" distinction, but for some inexplicable reason, it uses "our" when it comes to family, people, or houses. So, people say "my book" but "our dad". Even if you're the only child.
- raxxorrax 5y ago
  There is some overlap with fascism, its followers weren't the brightest stars in the sky either. But the source of authoritarianism is most often fear. Fear of being left behind or taken advantage of or something similar. Doesn't really matter, but it results in the want to prescribe rule for others, finding flaws in others and having a clear image of an enemy. The question if companies are able to stand for any value at all is thoroughly answered however. I think a business environment that has accepted this fact is more attractive to work in, but that probably comes down to preference. I evade larger companies which ascribe values to themselves with care.
celticninja 5y ago
What a waste of effort this article was. I will never get that time back, but moreso the people that wrote it would have been better of expending energy doing something to promote the ideas they discussed instead of telling us why a funny acronym is inappropriate.
- AnimalMuppet 5y ago
  What really blows my mind is, why did *Scientific American" publish this?
  - dekhn 5y ago
    SA changed a bunch recently, I think they just take money to publish articles with whatever viewpoint now.
retrac 5y ago
The association with the religious warrior monk angle is so obvious one would think it was a disparaging term applied by their critics. Social justice warrior turned Jedi warrior. As an aside... "In 2005, the Temple of the Jedi Order was registered in Texas. It was granted IRS tax exemption in 2015." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jediism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jediism
HarryHirsch 5y ago
Author # 2 of this article works with students from a religious environment and community college transfer students. Anyone who has ever taught at university level will know that these are very real disadvantaged groups that are usually overlooked by diversity activists. Why someone who clearly knows about D&I can write such pabulum is inexplicable.
krapp 5y ago
posted three days ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28667513 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28667513 posted five days ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28650122 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28650122 posted seven days ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28637111 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28637111

2 points by ogogmad 5y ago

Reminds me of how some people now think that the term "blacklist" is discriminatory. To be honest, I could somewhat understand the people who found "master/slave" terminology insensitive. But with the term "blacklist" being interpreted racially, I think now is the time to start saying "no" to idiots who are looking for trouble. The suggestion that these terms took their original meaning from people's skin colour is absolutely bonkers; haven't light and dark been associated with safety and danger since forever? I don't think this is creeping fascism. I think it's worse: It's creeping idiocy. And it looks like companies and institutions are giving into these idiots out of sheer spinelessness and a desire to avoid trouble. I don't want to be dictated to by idiots, ever -- they should just be called what they are.

LuisMondragon 5y ago
I remember a discussion on Twitter about abolishing possesive pronouns, because they allegedly express a relation of power and, well, possession. Like, you shouldn't say "my wife" because she doesn't belong to you. The thing is this: for a lot of things we have experts, and we listen to them. We know we should listen to medical doctors instead of improvising uneducated opinions. In the case of language, there are also experts: linguists. They can educate us about the various uses of possesive pronouns, which express more than just a naive idea of possession. But somehow in this kind of heated discussions nobody consults linguists for guidance.
- yongjik 5y ago
  > Like, you shouldn't say "my wife" because she doesn't belong to you. Random fun fact: in Korean you'd frequently say "our wife" even though you're her only husband. Also our son, our mom, or our house (even when you're the only one living in it). Maybe bring it up next time, and see their brains trying to process the info. :D
  - LuisMondragon 5y ago
    I watched Joe Rogan's interview with defector Yeonmi Park and, if I understood correctly, she said that this is the case in North Korea only, because the government banned the word "I"! You can't say "I like this", only "we like this". In South Korea people do use the first person singular. I hope a Korean person could correct me if I'm wrong.
    - yongjik 5y ago
      Wasn't Park Yeonmi the person who said American universities are worse than North Korea? I wouldn't take anything she said too seriously ... :) The Korean language does have "I/my" vs. "we/our" distinction, but for some inexplicable reason, it uses "our" when it comes to family, people, or houses. So, people say "my book" but "our dad". Even if you're the only child.
raxxorrax 5y ago
There is some overlap with fascism, its followers weren't the brightest stars in the sky either. But the source of authoritarianism is most often fear. Fear of being left behind or taken advantage of or something similar. Doesn't really matter, but it results in the want to prescribe rule for others, finding flaws in others and having a clear image of an enemy. The question if companies are able to stand for any value at all is thoroughly answered however. I think a business environment that has accepted this fact is more attractive to work in, but that probably comes down to preference. I evade larger companies which ascribe values to themselves with care.

celticninja 5y ago

What a waste of effort this article was. I will never get that time back, but moreso the people that wrote it would have been better of expending energy doing something to promote the ideas they discussed instead of telling us why a funny acronym is inappropriate.

AnimalMuppet 5y ago
What really blows my mind is, why did *Scientific American" publish this?
- dekhn 5y ago
  SA changed a bunch recently, I think they just take money to publish articles with whatever viewpoint now.

retrac 5y ago

The association with the religious warrior monk angle is so obvious one would think it was a disparaging term applied by their critics. Social justice warrior turned Jedi warrior. As an aside... "In 2005, the Temple of the Jedi Order was registered in Texas. It was granted IRS tax exemption in 2015." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jediism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jediism

HarryHirsch 5y ago

Author # 2 of this article works with students from a religious environment and community college transfer students. Anyone who has ever taught at university level will know that these are very real disadvantaged groups that are usually overlooked by diversity activists. Why someone who clearly knows about D&I can write such pabulum is inexplicable.

krapp 5y ago

posted three days ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28667513 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28667513 posted five days ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28650122 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28650122 posted seven days ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28637111 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28637111