2 ms·

I think this is generational, my parents (regional Australia, no in 70's) only use "They" when referring to a group. I need to be mindful when using this term

I think this is generational, my parents (regional Australia, no in 70's) only use "They" when referring to a group. I need to be mindful when using this term as it can lead to confusion. I accept both usages of the term, but choose the term carefully depending on who I am talking to.

defrost 3y ago
I'd be inclined to ask your parents, in referece to (say) Australian Sign Language Recognition a paper principally by E.J. Holden on the mathematics behind the use of computer vision to recognise Australian sign language from video feed, what they think of the author's work. Do they have an opinion on their choice of invariant transforms, etc. Would they (your parents) have to look up a biography of E.J.Holden to first determine gender before commenting on his or her work? In the early 1980s I was surrounded by women in mathematics and computer science at the university I attended so I rapidly fell into the habit of not assuming anything about individuals known only by mail or by journal papers.
- worthless-trash 3y ago
  No, these are typical everyday people who make judgements based on the information they know. It will be "some mathmatician" or "the doctor" not "they". They do not know or care about invariant transforms, math or sexuality because they are farmers. Offending people they will never meet is on the bottom of their list of priorities.
  - worthless-trash 3y ago
    I read that again, it came across a little angrier than I intended. Please understand its the content, not the tone that I intended to portray.
    - defrost 3y ago
      It gave me a chuckle and I replied addressing the content with good humor. No drama :)
  - defrost 3y ago
    Offending isn't the issue here at all. The question is how would they refer to singuler people whose gender they don't know. > They do not know or care about invariant transforms, math or sexuality because they are farmers. You do make some odd assumptions; I was raised on a Kimberley cattle station, am now farming in the Western Australian wheatbelt, and once worked on a sheep shearing robot. There are a number of farmers that care about math, GIS resource mapping, drone operation, optical laser wool grading, etc. etc. etc. That your parents do not is not a universal attribute of farmers.
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]

defrost 3y ago

I'd be inclined to ask your parents, in referece to (say) Australian Sign Language Recognition a paper principally by E.J. Holden on the mathematics behind the use of computer vision to recognise Australian sign language from video feed, what they think of the author's work. Do they have an opinion on their choice of invariant transforms, etc. Would they (your parents) have to look up a biography of E.J.Holden to first determine gender before commenting on his or her work? In the early 1980s I was surrounded by women in mathematics and computer science at the university I attended so I rapidly fell into the habit of not assuming anything about individuals known only by mail or by journal papers.

worthless-trash 3y ago
No, these are typical everyday people who make judgements based on the information they know. It will be "some mathmatician" or "the doctor" not "they". They do not know or care about invariant transforms, math or sexuality because they are farmers. Offending people they will never meet is on the bottom of their list of priorities.
- worthless-trash 3y ago
  I read that again, it came across a little angrier than I intended. Please understand its the content, not the tone that I intended to portray.
  - defrost 3y ago
    It gave me a chuckle and I replied addressing the content with good humor. No drama :)
- defrost 3y ago
  Offending isn't the issue here at all. The question is how would they refer to singuler people whose gender they don't know. > They do not know or care about invariant transforms, math or sexuality because they are farmers. You do make some odd assumptions; I was raised on a Kimberley cattle station, am now farming in the Western Australian wheatbelt, and once worked on a sheep shearing robot. There are a number of farmers that care about math, GIS resource mapping, drone operation, optical laser wool grading, etc. etc. etc. That your parents do not is not a universal attribute of farmers.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]