tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post567720614915837318..comments2024-03-18T22:32:52.802-04:00Comments on Noahpinion: In the Future Everyone Will Be Fired After Fifteen MinutesNoah Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09093917601641588575noreply@blogger.comBlogger65125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-25996936673350067842013-09-21T07:44:15.285-04:002013-09-21T07:44:15.285-04:00What im really wundering now, is who did give that...What im really wundering now, is who did give that guy his Ph.D.? Thats someone who should definitly be fire. Or better, fire everyone involved in grading, not just the advisor...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-2294307092243459912013-09-16T23:02:34.423-04:002013-09-16T23:02:34.423-04:00What a crack up.
Let me get this straight you li...What a crack up. <br /><br />Let me get this straight you libertarians. <br /><br />You defend the right of restaurant/hotel owners to not be willing to serve African Americans, but your knickers get twisted when another business owner fires an employee for shooting their mouth off?Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06147179799227843407noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-59616607996752982892013-09-15T16:08:08.328-04:002013-09-15T16:08:08.328-04:00Boy, you can say that again. The first step towar...Boy, you can say that again. The first step towards destroying freedom of expression and thought is to teach people to be tolerant of different cultures...mattskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07936264188400397646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-12975542079139250052013-09-15T15:41:12.823-04:002013-09-15T15:41:12.823-04:00"But there is nothing about the sort of outra..."But there is nothing about the sort of outrage strategy being employed requiring that the views that get you fired be noxious or even wrong; all that is necessary is that they be unpopular."<br /><br />Is it really that easy to get everyone outraged for long enough to force their firing?<br /><br />How do you define unpopular anyway? Is belief in Judaism popular? I don't see how it could be; very few share that belief and most regard the religion as incorrect in some way. So could you create an outrage out of someone expressing such a belief? No, certainly not today. What about anti-semitism, is that popular? Well, no, though I would not be surprised if the number of people holding anti-semitic beliefs is larger than the number of Jews. But one of these is recognized as noxious and one is considered acceptable. And so long as the public is distinguishing between the noxious and the merely wrong or unpopular, then I don't think it's correct to say that outrage tactics are equally effective with the latter. I suppose we should be wary of attempts to expand the definition of noxious, though progress demands that its definition will grow over time.Eric Lhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17688525347746547529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-57278635455596314802013-09-15T11:38:07.354-04:002013-09-15T11:38:07.354-04:00OHHH NOOOOOOooooooo....OHHH NOOOOOOooooooo....Noah Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09093917601641588575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-75331695897430798362013-09-15T10:28:13.388-04:002013-09-15T10:28:13.388-04:00The removal of freedom of expression and thought i...The removal of freedom of expression and thought is one of the keys to full, firm control. Between the Islamists and the multi-cultis, our children will be completely incapable of stemming the certain downfall of western civilisation. Dark ages? Here we come, again!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-21028603046719030252013-09-14T20:43:04.329-04:002013-09-14T20:43:04.329-04:00Why should we shame girls who want to be promiscuo...Why should we shame girls who want to be promiscuous and dress trashy? Don't you want to do those things?Noah Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09093917601641588575noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-31682403623846391372013-09-14T18:57:03.616-04:002013-09-14T18:57:03.616-04:00Whether an idea is outrageous has nothing to do wi...Whether an idea is outrageous has nothing to do with whether it is or is believed to be true or false, and only a little to do with popularity. In all of the given examples, the stated beliefs are outrageous because the beliefs themselves are understood to be harmful to certain people or groups of people. An outrage requires a clearly identifiable victim. It's easier to get away believing in astrology or creationism or even positive stereotypes like "Asians are good at math," where the harm or the victims are less obvious.<br /><br />I don't say this to trivialize outrages. Negative stereotypes really are harmful whether or not there is any amount of truth to them; this has been demonstrated quite convincingly in the stereotype threat studies. That they have a demonstrable harmful effect is one of the reasons it is quite difficult to determine if there is any truth to them beyond their effects as self-fulfilling prophesies.<br />Eric Lhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17688525347746547529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-22580060697626358462013-09-14T17:20:47.061-04:002013-09-14T17:20:47.061-04:00Huh??? Has the state been shooting dirty looks yo...Huh??? Has the state been shooting dirty looks your way when you try to tell black jokes or something?<br /><br />I really don't think the state is calling the shots here.Eric Lhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17688525347746547529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-26444324318798335462013-09-14T15:16:46.202-04:002013-09-14T15:16:46.202-04:00Seriously? I'm going to indulge myself despit...Seriously? I'm going to indulge myself despite knowing that this is a bad habit...<br /><br />The idea that IQ tests are not a complete measure of intelligence is widely held and (to me), pretty intuitive. Whether the ad hoc hypothesis is infantile or not is, I suppose, subjective, but the introduction of a competing hypothesis is a common way to demonstrate that a body of cited "evidence" does not sufficiently demonstrate a rhetorical conclusion.<br /><br />I also didn't find any contentions of equality and I think the argument was not really about demonstrating the falsehood of Summers's statement. When he made his remarks from his prominent position, the burden of proof should have been (and, by most people, was) placed on him. If there is insufficient evidence from which to draw a conclusion, then his assertions reflect either a personal bias or professional failure or both.<br /><br />As a note, I didn't miss the rude and insulting tone of your comment, but I'm not sure that there is a way for me to address it constructively. You are sufficiently articulate that I assume the tone is intentional, so I'd encourage you to reflect on why Whispers managed to make you so angry.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-25636837030395803162013-09-14T09:55:57.839-04:002013-09-14T09:55:57.839-04:00From Rushton and Jensen's work
"30 year...From Rushton and Jensen's work <br /><br />"30 years of research on race differences in cognitive ability"<br /><br /> World wide average differences among blacks, whites and east Asians <br /> IQ Cranial Capacity Cortical Neurons (millions)<br /><br />Blacks 85 1267 13,185<br /><br />Whites 102 1347 13,665<br /><br />East 106 1364 13,767<br />Asians<br /><br />Race is not well defined. What we can see though is that there is a relationship between social definitions of race and the above three variables.<br /><br />This does not imply that there is some underlying genetic factor necessarily attached to those genes which place certain people into particular categories such as white, black or east Asian. But it is consistent with a story where by those people who have certain characteristics that we use to classify people's race also tend to have genes that lead to lower or higher cranial mass, levels of cortical neurons or IQ test scores. It is also compatible with other more environmental stories.<br /><br />The data certainly does not incontrovertibly demonstrate that these gaps are coming from higher prevalences of certain genes amongst people we classify to be in certain races. This is however one plausible story for explaining these gaps. I personally believe that getting this wrong in one direction is more costly than getting wrong in the other. <br /><br />A social belief in even a small racial difference will have large adverse effects. People are a little racist anyway and historically tend to exaggerate any small difference on which we can discriminate. Historically it has always been very easy for humans to justify inequities between groups via appeal to the intrinsic inferiority of one group to another. There is probably, therefore, a social bias towards finding innate differences between "our group" and "their group". Given this bias we should demand a very high burden of proof from those who want to claim that race is the reason for the difference in social outcomes. As far as I can tell this burden of proof is far from being met. <br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-81058014685063217782013-09-14T09:24:03.539-04:002013-09-14T09:24:03.539-04:00Your problem is you have an emotional reaction whe...Your problem is you have an emotional reaction when you read something you don't like.<br /><br />No one said women can't do math and science. They said that there are more men at the very highest levels of math because of some genetic variation. All this means is that if you see a lot of men winning math Nobel Prizes, it isn't sexism.<br /><br />No one said blacks are genetically inferior. They said there are some genetic variations. Again, when you find an occupation that is heavily white or black, it doesn't necessarily mean there is racism. For example, you can look at sports such as football and see more white offensive linemen and more black defensive linemen. And if you think lower intelligence makes a person inferior, it is yourself who has the problem.<br /><br />Finally, even Jews have said Hollywood is run by the Jews. Apparently this is a new idea to you, because you are unaware of reality.Orthodoxnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-66757716090881704222013-09-14T09:14:27.440-04:002013-09-14T09:14:27.440-04:00Young Earth Creationists make more compelling argu...Young Earth Creationists make more compelling arguments because they at least try to come up with ways to disprove the existing science.Orthodoxnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-21993319473053514622013-09-14T07:13:53.009-04:002013-09-14T07:13:53.009-04:00I would say that the problem isn't the interne...I would say that the problem isn't the internet rooting out unpopular thoughts: the problem is arbitrary power of employers to institute zero-tolerance policies and fire at will.<br /><br />"... the place where [adults] pass the most time and submit to the closest control is at work. Thus, without even entering into the question of the world economy's ultimate dictation within narrow limits of everybody's productive activity, it's apparent that the source of the greatest direct duress experienced by the ordinary adult is _not_ the state but rather the business that employs him. Your foreman or supervisor gives you more or-else orders in a week than the police do in a decade."<br />Bob Black, The Libertarian As Conservative, 1984Mike Hubenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01371469964446567690noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-8655192702782995262013-09-14T04:47:22.142-04:002013-09-14T04:47:22.142-04:00Thanks, Wispers, for your pointless postmodernist ...Thanks, Wispers, for your pointless postmodernist word games pontificating on definitions of intelligence, a word to which you strangely seem attribute enough meaning to get your kickers in a twist over claims to be able to measure it with an IQ test, and then tacking on a frankly infantile ad hoc hypothesis , just in case, to your unfalsifiable contentions of equality as if these actually established anything regarding the truth or falsehood of Summers's contention, which explains the discrepancy at least as well as your blathering insinuations of patriarchal oppression. Go back to your Women's Studies classes, where your level of intellect is more appreciated.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-45534416025716924232013-09-14T04:42:04.693-04:002013-09-14T04:42:04.693-04:00So does that mean Cardiff Garcia is not a real per...So does that mean Cardiff Garcia is not a real person? I always had my suspicions. After all, everyone knows Welsh Town + Spanish name is how you do your cage fighting stage name. Eg Neath Nadal, or Swansea Ramirez. Lukehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14014996272817759191noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-74043340752063352802013-09-14T03:16:06.652-04:002013-09-14T03:16:06.652-04:00So where do girls who want to be promiscuous and d...So where do girls who want to be promiscuous and dress trashy but complain about having to be "shamed" fit into this?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-52363086609229067942013-09-14T01:39:21.077-04:002013-09-14T01:39:21.077-04:00To be fair, Pax was fired because he made comments...To be fair, Pax was fired because he made comments related to hiring women, and in his capacity as CTO made hiring/firing decisions. This is a liability nightmare the first time you fire someone litigious. Willnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-7607963836358414362013-09-14T00:45:07.225-04:002013-09-14T00:45:07.225-04:00"If you want to claim that there are links be..."If you want to claim that there are links between specific DNA sequences and specific types of intelligence -- sure there are. But most "race" claims are of the form "American black people are inherently dumber than American white people", and that is PUREST BULLSHIT."<br /><br />There are problems even with the first statement, because "intelligence" is not a well-defined concept. Even IQ is not a particularly convincing measure. Education levels, better, but what kind of laboratory would you need to test the hypothesis: identical twins separated at birth, etc... All of this is dead-end research guys.Patrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06658507365116962150noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-67525240467769837382013-09-13T20:30:32.241-04:002013-09-13T20:30:32.241-04:00If you were fake, Noah would have fired you over y...If you were fake, Noah would have fired you over your ridiculous first post.ArgosyJonesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-2945840867394810792013-09-13T20:17:59.995-04:002013-09-13T20:17:59.995-04:00So I guess southern whites are stupider than north...So I guess southern whites are stupider than northern whites for genetic reasons, and adopted kids are smarter than non-adopted kids for genetic reasons? Oh, and Jews were stupider than gentiles for genetic reasons 100 years ago, but have now miraculously evolved to be smarter?<br /><br />The whole race and IQ thing is a belief that is very popular with large segments of the white population, but has very few adherents among people who study IQs. Putting this out there like you are some brave defender of rationality against out-of-control PC is poop of the bull.Billnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-57143831951061938632013-09-13T17:59:37.637-04:002013-09-13T17:59:37.637-04:00Am I really the first one to point out that the gr...<i>Am I really the first one to point out that the graphic at the opening of this post is Really Inappropriate?</i><br /><br />I wasn't aware of that!mattskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07936264188400397646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-49508972533951618632013-09-13T17:25:05.684-04:002013-09-13T17:25:05.684-04:00Am I really the first one to point out that the gr...Am I really the first one to point out that the graphic at the opening of this post is Really Inappropriate?Ken Houghtonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01440837287933536370noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-79571708098340144672013-09-13T17:13:17.420-04:002013-09-13T17:13:17.420-04:00No one can do 4d visualization (because the neuron...No one can do 4d visualization (because the neurons we use to perform visualization are arranged in a plane and always reduce the "field of view" to a 2D projection [to match our optical perception]). However, you can be trained in the rules of what the 3d view of 4d changes looks like (as have I). However, Spatial Reasoning is a standard description of a type of reasoning, which includes, for instance, the rate at which a person can rotate a 3D mental image. This has actually been measured (average is about 57 deg/sec I think). The research I'm citing is one that where they found that hormone levels appear to play a significant role in the perceived mental differences between men and women (from math and science to language) - and menstrual cycle changes thus cause women to experience variability in this capacity. This is very interesting (I think) and also explains how we can have basically the same brains, but still experience the apparent variations in the sexes. It isn't that one sex is dumber than the other. Women tend to speak faster than men, have a larger vocabulary, etc, etc. But, apparently, these sex differences are largely caused by the effect of sex hormones on different parts of the brain. Note that even males experience hormonal changes through life - and this research offers a possible explanation to why so many great (academic) men do so much of their best work in their 30's - perhaps that TENDS to be an optimum in most men in both hormone levels and the effects of aging.<br /><br />Yes, I am aware that culture could be the cause of all of these differences in the sexes - but many studies now seek to control for cultural differences and it really does appear to show that there are some natural differences between the sexes. And should this really be shocking? Who doesn't feel good or bad as a result of all sorts of hormonal changes (waking up, late at night, post-sex, pre-sex, hungry, satiated, breastfeeding, not; menstrating/cramping, not....). The sexes do not experience all of these symmetrically, so how could there not be SOME variation between the sexes?<br /><br />Granted!!!::: the variation between members of either sex are greater than the variation between most members of different sexes - but that does not matter. There are, apparently, differences between the mean woman and the mean man, and that's okay. It doesn't justify *stereotyping* - but it does call for recognizing that seeking a 1-for-1, 50% distribution of women and men everywhere is not a valid way of looking at the world, starting with the obvious: the number of people with cup size greater than C is heavily skewed in favor of women - and it would be a mistake to encourage men to seek to fill that category. Does that matter? No.<br /><br />Anyway, we were ACTUALLY talking about the capacity of people to express dumb (or not so dumb ideas) not debate each dumb (or not so dumb) idea....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17232051.post-78831961342022055992013-09-13T16:48:46.746-04:002013-09-13T16:48:46.746-04:00With the advent of the web, people not only censor...With the advent of the web, people not only censor themselves more, but increasingly posture and perform in public, like celebrities or politicians. The result of this is an incredibly insincere society, forcibly dishonest, and not especially civilized or what I would call adult.<br /><br />Meanwhile, the genuinely grievous social problems--mass incarceration, extreme wealth inequality, unemployment and underemployment, inadequate access to healthcare and education, out-of-control student debt, and yes, global warming and nuclear weapons--are conveniently ignored.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com