I agree with you on that, and that is unfortunate.
I do suspect the degree to which the people perceives that the “PC-police” controls everything is overblown.
I’m using a less-than-anonymous handle here, and I’ve just expressed support of Summers’ right to present his data. I’ve also expressed open-mindedness (though not acceptance) towards the idea that genetically determined behavioral differences could conceivably exist.
I’ve got sufficient faith in the system that it won’t punish me for open-mindedness to un-PC ideas. If I thought that what happened to Summers was a really common thing, I’d be using an anon handle to even discuss reactionary thought.
I’ve also expressed open-mindedness (though not acceptance) towards the idea that genetically determined behavioral differences could conceivably exist.
That amounts to “human group differences are not ruled out a priori”, which is an incredibly low bar. Even SJ Gould, who was enough of a PC policeman to falsify claims of bias against a 19th century biologist who examined cranial capacity, admitted that “equality is not an a priori truth”.
If I thought that what happened to Summers was a really common thing, I’d be using an anon handle to even discuss reactionary thought.
It’s pretty common for public figures. I don’t know who you are, but my guess is you’re not a public figure. Hence, your protection (and mine) largely consists in being small fry.
It’s pretty common for public figures. I don’t know who you are, but my guess is you’re not a public figure. Hence, your protection (and mine) largely consists in being small fry.
Certain right-wing Italian politicians who say things that seem optimized for maximum offensiveness whom I cannot reliably tell apart from their parodies surely should count as public figures too?
While I wouldn’t want to see too many of those good, solid digs on Less Wrong, this comment made my day. I made a special exception ;-) and upvoted it.
IIRC he went farther, suggesting (as one hypothesis among several) that low female representation in STEM fields could be due to lower female IQ variance.
I do suspect the degree to which the people perceives that the “PC-police” controls everything is overblown.
It really depends. If you’re, say, the owner of a small auto repair business in Montana, you can give the PC police the middle finger every day and nothing bad will happen to you. On the other hand, if you’re a school employee in a rich suburb somewhere in the Northeast… well… the situation is different :-/
Would you say my trust is poorly placed?
Yes.
This mostly has to do with using a less-than-anonymous handle. If any lurker who decided to get his jollies by being nasty to you can pierce your veil of anonymity and, say, send a carefully chosen collection of quotes from your posts to a variety of people who have authority over you—well, it could get rather unpleasant.
Such things, unfortunately, are not rare on ’net forums.
Whether “the system” won’t punish you depends on which system. If you’re in academia or paid-by-feds research (e.g. NIH), I would expect the system to punish you (not necessarily in immediately obvious ways).
Whether “the system” won’t punish you depends on which system. If you’re in academia or paid-by-feds research (e.g. NIH), I would expect the system to punish you (not necessarily in immediately obvious ways).
I guess that depends on whether you are in the humanities or the hard sciences. I’ve heard several maths professors often making politically incorrect remarks and jokes in lectures where they couldn’t have known that nobody was recording them. You wouldn’t speak out against Socialism in a similar venue in the Soviet Union. (Or are web forums held to a higher standard than university lectures?)
I guess that depends on whether you are in the humanities or the hard sciences.
That’s probably true. I suspect it also depends on whether you are a tenured professor, rather hard to dislodge, or a mere tenure-track larva terrified of not getting tenure...
I agree with you on that, and that is unfortunate.
I do suspect the degree to which the people perceives that the “PC-police” controls everything is overblown.
I’m using a less-than-anonymous handle here, and I’ve just expressed support of Summers’ right to present his data. I’ve also expressed open-mindedness (though not acceptance) towards the idea that genetically determined behavioral differences could conceivably exist.
I’ve got sufficient faith in the system that it won’t punish me for open-mindedness to un-PC ideas. If I thought that what happened to Summers was a really common thing, I’d be using an anon handle to even discuss reactionary thought.
Would you say my trust is poorly placed?
That amounts to “human group differences are not ruled out a priori”, which is an incredibly low bar. Even SJ Gould, who was enough of a PC policeman to falsify claims of bias against a 19th century biologist who examined cranial capacity, admitted that “equality is not an a priori truth”.
It’s pretty common for public figures. I don’t know who you are, but my guess is you’re not a public figure. Hence, your protection (and mine) largely consists in being small fry.
Certain right-wing Italian politicians who say things that seem optimized for maximum offensiveness whom I cannot reliably tell apart from their parodies surely should count as public figures too?
I’m pretty sure all laws of science and human action contain special exception clauses for Berlusconi.
While I wouldn’t want to see too many of those good, solid digs on Less Wrong, this comment made my day. I made a special exception ;-) and upvoted it.
No, remember reality is normal. If Berlusconi breaks your model of reality, you would do well to update your model.
Isn’t that, in a nutshell, exactly what Summers was saying?
IIRC he went farther, suggesting (as one hypothesis among several) that low female representation in STEM fields could be due to lower female IQ variance.
It really depends. If you’re, say, the owner of a small auto repair business in Montana, you can give the PC police the middle finger every day and nothing bad will happen to you. On the other hand, if you’re a school employee in a rich suburb somewhere in the Northeast… well… the situation is different :-/
Yes.
This mostly has to do with using a less-than-anonymous handle. If any lurker who decided to get his jollies by being nasty to you can pierce your veil of anonymity and, say, send a carefully chosen collection of quotes from your posts to a variety of people who have authority over you—well, it could get rather unpleasant.
Such things, unfortunately, are not rare on ’net forums.
Whether “the system” won’t punish you depends on which system. If you’re in academia or paid-by-feds research (e.g. NIH), I would expect the system to punish you (not necessarily in immediately obvious ways).
I guess that depends on whether you are in the humanities or the hard sciences. I’ve heard several maths professors often making politically incorrect remarks and jokes in lectures where they couldn’t have known that nobody was recording them. You wouldn’t speak out against Socialism in a similar venue in the Soviet Union. (Or are web forums held to a higher standard than university lectures?)
That’s probably true. I suspect it also depends on whether you are a tenured professor, rather hard to dislodge, or a mere tenure-track larva terrified of not getting tenure...