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Google Employee Fired for Political Beliefs


CaptainYesterday

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On 8/9/2017 at 1:10 PM, paperwishes said:

I think he mentions that women aren't biologically as good for meticulous computer work...?

I think he was suggesting that there are some on-average cognitive differences between men and women, although there are exceptions. I think he tried to cite studies that suggest that there is an impact of pre-natal testosterone on human behaviour.

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Is it bad that my first reaction was, "Why on earth did he decide to write a long memo?". I mean, good for him for having ideas. Just when on earth did he find the time and inclination to do it as a memo.

 

I had a quick flick through the memo. It didn't seem especially sexist to me - it reads as though he's being very careful not to be sexist, actually and is trying to present his argument in as neutral a fashion as possible. So if he was fired on the basis of being sexist, that's a little worrying.

 

That being said, if you have problems with your employer's diversity policies, there are better ways to go about telling them. Like having a quiet word in person. Handing your little thesis in, in person. Attending any forum your employer holds. Sending out an internal memo to everyone is moronic so I can sort of see why he might be fired from that perspective...

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4 minutes ago, Blaiddmelyn said:

Is it bad that my first reaction was, "Why on earth did he decide to write a long memo?". I mean, good for him for having ideas. Just when on earth did he find the time and inclination to do it as a memo.

 

I had a quick flick through the memo. It didn't seem especially sexist to me - it reads as though he's being very careful not to be sexist, actually and is trying to present his argument in as neutral a fashion as possible. So if he was fired on the basis of being sexist, that's a little worrying.

 

That being said, if you have problems with your employer's diversity policies, there are better ways to go about telling them. Like having a quiet word in person. Handing your little thesis in, in person. Attending any forum your employer holds. Sending out an internal memo to everyone is moronic so I can sort of see why he might be fired from that perspective...

Have you read this: https://www.quora.com/What-do-scientists-think-about-the-biological-claims-made-in-the-anti-diversity-document-written-by-a-Google-employee-in-August-2017/answer/Suzanne-Sadedin

 

It explains the problems with the memo well.

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8 minutes ago, Ms. Maya the Bee said:

Can't say I have, mainly because I only read the memo itself in about 5 mins. The bloke probably hasn't read every gender study out there (and I know some studies do agree with him - a few people I know have studied it and said there are studies supporting what he says. I cba to look myself as, like most things, there are probably studies to support whatever conclusion you want to reach) and probably isn't an expert in the field himself so I'm not surprised that an expert has taken issue with him. As I say, he should have raised his ideas in a different fashion and, had he done so, maybe those who know any other studies could explain to him why they don't think his argument works. That's why I think his being fired for being a moron (rather than being sexist) is unsurprising.

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3 hours ago, CaptainYesterday said:

He is actually an expert in the field.  He has a Master's degree in evolutionary psychology and was in the middle of pursuing his Doctorate.  Many other experts in the field have come to his defense.  All of his claims were supported by scholarly research.

Come on, we all know that experts are those that get the correct conclusion. He made an incorrect conclusion and therefore is not an expert. PhD in biology from Havard means nothing if you don't tow party line.

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19 hours ago, CaptainYesterday said:

Google hosts internal messages boards where employees are encouraged to offer suggestions and criticisms.  The particular board he submitted the memo for review/editing to was for "controversial" topics, specifically.  Google policy encouraged him writing the memo.

 

He said he wrote it on a 12 hour flight.

Yeah, that doesn't stop him from being moronic. Anyone with a lick of sense knows there's a line with these things.

 

12 hours isn't all that long a time to write a detailed memo. So I still suspect extra effort which, y'know, good for him but I'd probably have used the time to do something else. Different strokes for different folks I guess.

 

19 hours ago, CaptainYesterday said:

He is actually an expert in the field.  He has a Master's degree in evolutionary psychology and was in the middle of pursuing his Doctorate.  Many other experts in the field have come to his defense.  All of his claims were supported by scholarly research.

Ha, I stand corrected. Although if you read my posts, you'll see that I've noted that I know a couple of folk who say there are studies etc supporting his conclusion and I suspect there are experts who could argue it either way. As I say, I didn't necessarily disagree with everything I skim-read in the memo and, more importantly, I didn't think it was especially sexist. I did think he was a moron for going about it the way he did.

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