(answered you on twitter, but also here for the books)
It's easy to characterize this as virtue signaling because it does demonstrate some virtue. Which used to be a good thing by the way.
That being said, if you read a bit more closely you'll also see that it's more nuanced and that I also engage in the criticism. Tech doesn't just appear outside of culture and society, it's hugely a product of human imagination and thought, constrained by social and cultural mores. The stuff we make has real consequences for the people who either use or are targeted by it. That's why I think there also should be a place for reflections such as mine on dev.to. I don't think to ask how tech can be more inclusive falls into “partisan politics”, it's a much broader and humanistic issue.
I think your comment should stand, as it's representative for a larger group, and it deserves being heard and answered.
It does not demonstrate any virtue in my eyes (and apparently not just mine); as subjective as virtue might be, it seems to be to demonstrate more a (personal? Collective?) obsession for political correctness, that one time too many ended up being thought policing.
The idea of "inclusiveness" is a similarly perverted concept (like "empathy" or "compassion"), easily bent by a political agenda; using pronouns or terms does not work that much well, in all fairness, to achieve the holy grail of "inclusiveness".
I believe the world needs more high level engineers and that should be it: attaching an indication of a gender, "race" or other minority usually just ends up being a politically driven way to lower bars and promote further a culture of victimisation.
If you want more people in a sector, investigate why there are not enough of them (again, assuming that is actually a value worth pursuing) and then do something to remove blockers (frankly, if people quit IT because of "you guys", investing in good psychological support might be better than policing how people talk) and promote more (investing in free, high quality education, for example), instead of assuming there has to be some discrimination.
And, in case anybody is already keen on shutting me up as a "white male", please just remember that I am actually just a crappy migrant in a country that seems to like them less and less, where I came knowing literally nobody and all in all being pretty much an outlier in my (super nice and competent, do not misunderstand me) team.
Finally, while I appreciate your thoughts, I am a bit concerned reading that my not-racist, not-aggressive, not-intolerant, not-illegal ideas need some kind of approval in order to stay and be read by others...
Believe or not, I appreciate that you take the time to air your concerns.
It's troublesome to me that we have gotten to where it's seemingly impossible to entertain a discussion about how we can make more people feel welcome, without being labeled as an SJW, or having once thought being reduced to “political correctness”. That's just robbing me of the same opportunity to be taken seriously as you yourself seemingly are worried about.
We have investigated why people leave technology. There's no lack of experiences of harassment, being undermined, and generally not being included. And it's also proven that actually taking actions towards making people aware of how communication and behavior can be changed in order to prevent people from being hurt. I believe we're moving in the right direction.
Comment marked as low quality/non-constructive by the community. View Code of Conduct
I do believe you are not a strict taliban, as you do not look like.
Who is this "we" that has investigated why people leave technology? How was the (re)search conducted and which were the whole results of it?
I believe we are moving in the wrong direction when we are considering people of certain background only as victims: who says that toughening up a veery thin skin is not a good way not to get hurt? Because on the other hand I see an endless game where everything can be seen as insulting or offensive.
Guess what: even just by using the term "guys".
For further actions, you may consider blocking this person and/or reporting abuse
We're a place where coders share, stay up-to-date and grow their careers.
Hi Giacomo, thank you for your comment!
(answered you on twitter, but also here for the books)
It's easy to characterize this as virtue signaling because it does demonstrate some virtue. Which used to be a good thing by the way.
That being said, if you read a bit more closely you'll also see that it's more nuanced and that I also engage in the criticism. Tech doesn't just appear outside of culture and society, it's hugely a product of human imagination and thought, constrained by social and cultural mores. The stuff we make has real consequences for the people who either use or are targeted by it. That's why I think there also should be a place for reflections such as mine on dev.to. I don't think to ask how tech can be more inclusive falls into “partisan politics”, it's a much broader and humanistic issue.
I think your comment should stand, as it's representative for a larger group, and it deserves being heard and answered.
It does not demonstrate any virtue in my eyes (and apparently not just mine); as subjective as virtue might be, it seems to be to demonstrate more a (personal? Collective?) obsession for political correctness, that one time too many ended up being thought policing.
The idea of "inclusiveness" is a similarly perverted concept (like "empathy" or "compassion"), easily bent by a political agenda; using pronouns or terms does not work that much well, in all fairness, to achieve the holy grail of "inclusiveness".
I believe the world needs more high level engineers and that should be it: attaching an indication of a gender, "race" or other minority usually just ends up being a politically driven way to lower bars and promote further a culture of victimisation.
If you want more people in a sector, investigate why there are not enough of them (again, assuming that is actually a value worth pursuing) and then do something to remove blockers (frankly, if people quit IT because of "you guys", investing in good psychological support might be better than policing how people talk) and promote more (investing in free, high quality education, for example), instead of assuming there has to be some discrimination.
And, in case anybody is already keen on shutting me up as a "white male", please just remember that I am actually just a crappy migrant in a country that seems to like them less and less, where I came knowing literally nobody and all in all being pretty much an outlier in my (super nice and competent, do not misunderstand me) team.
Finally, while I appreciate your thoughts, I am a bit concerned reading that my not-racist, not-aggressive, not-intolerant, not-illegal ideas need some kind of approval in order to stay and be read by others...
Believe or not, I appreciate that you take the time to air your concerns.
It's troublesome to me that we have gotten to where it's seemingly impossible to entertain a discussion about how we can make more people feel welcome, without being labeled as an SJW, or having once thought being reduced to “political correctness”. That's just robbing me of the same opportunity to be taken seriously as you yourself seemingly are worried about.
We have investigated why people leave technology. There's no lack of experiences of harassment, being undermined, and generally not being included. And it's also proven that actually taking actions towards making people aware of how communication and behavior can be changed in order to prevent people from being hurt. I believe we're moving in the right direction.
I do believe you are not a strict taliban, as you do not look like.
Who is this "we" that has investigated why people leave technology? How was the (re)search conducted and which were the whole results of it?
I believe we are moving in the wrong direction when we are considering people of certain background only as victims: who says that toughening up a veery thin skin is not a good way not to get hurt? Because on the other hand I see an endless game where everything can be seen as insulting or offensive.
Guess what: even just by using the term "guys".