I disagree. He mentioned in an interview[1] that he was looking to be proven wrong which is what led him to share it with the Skeptics group at Google, which is when the document propagated. He had actually wrote the document weeks prior but was unsatisfied with the lack of discussion on his document.
That seems an odd approach tbh. Many 'Skeptics' groups (Skeptic / Rationalist YouTube) online at least would agree with his reasoning. It strikes me as odd that he was seeking to take down an ideological echo chamber but published it initially in the echo chamber most likely to agree with him.
His first group he sent it to was a diversity group. I think it reasonable that a skeptic group who, ostensibly, would side with reason would be a next logical step.
Would someone please explain what this means, wouldn't an anti-regressive be a progressive? If so, why not state it that way?
Also, I thought the term "skeptic" had been hijacked by conspiracy wackos. When I think of a classic skeptic, I look to James Randi and the like; critical thinkers who expose quackery. But, for the last 15-20 years, conspiracy theorists have taken the term over (e.g. vaccine/climate/GMO skeptics). I fall into the Randi group of skeptics, but I sure as hell don't describe myself using that word, for fear of being lumped in with the second lot.
Real skeptics tend to be progressive, conspiracy skeptics tend to be regressive.
Based on the spelling, I'll assume emsy is a Brit... maybe things are different over there, but Randi was always more popular in England than in the US. I'm missing something.
I'm German. The skeptics I were talking about and presumably the comment I answered on, were the YouTube skeptics. What I meant with anti-regressive was that these skeptics mostly tackle so-called progressives that use racism and sexism for their arguments or policies.
I've never heard the conspiracy theorists called skeptics, so I'm sorry for the misunderstanding.
> If that's odd, then what is firing just to prove him right?
Google is a company with shareholders and P/L. It's not a thought experiment, a family, a social commons, or a debating society. It exists to make money.
Google took the decision to fire him based on what was likely to create a conducive atmosphere for its workers.
His memo, however construed, made it likely that he could no longer be able to contribute as effectively to some teams.
Google's responsibility to Damore begins and ends at their mutual alignment of economic interests.
> Google took the decision to fire him based on what was likely to create a conducive atmosphere for its workers.
They did the opposite, someone said it's not okay to shame people into silence, and then they did just that.
> made it likely that he could no longer be able to contribute as effectively to some teams.
What does "as effectively" mean? What are "some teams"? If someone sweats a lot, and a million other things, the above would also be technically true. Or hey, if a company fired someone over something like this. That will make a lot of bright people, both male and female, think twice before even giving Google a consideration.
> Google's responsibility to Damore begins and ends at their mutual alignment of economic interests.
It's not about responsibility to him, but about their responsibility for themselves to not shit the bed like they did.
Then Google's calculus is simply different to yours. For what its worth, I don't think Google's response to this is going to have a significant impact on Google's ability to hire talented people, or that white, heterosexual, cisgendered people are going to feel that their opportunities at Google are likely to be curtailed. Females, I would say, or any other minority within Google, are even less likely to.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEDuVF7kiPU