Posted on 09/07/2016 12:20:44 PM PDT by PROCON
It's no surprise that inequality in the U.S. is on the rise. But what you might not know is that math is partly to blame.
In a new book, "Weapons of Math Destruction," Cathy O'Neil details all the ways that math is essentially being used for evil (my word, not hers).
From targeted advertising and insurance to education and policing, O'Neil looks at how algorithms and big data are targeting the poor, reinforcing racism and amplifying inequality.
These "WMDs," as she calls them, have three key features: They are opaque, scalable and unfair. Denied a job because of a personality test? Too bad -- the algorithm said you wouldn't be a good fit. Charged a higher rate for a loan? Well, people in your zip code tend to be riskier borrowers. Received a harsher prison sentence? Here's the thing: Your friends and family have criminal records too, so you're likely to be a repeat offender. (Spoiler: The people on the receiving end of these messages don't actually get an explanation.)
The models O'Neil writes about all use proxies for what they're actually trying to measure. The police analyze zip codes to deploy officers, employers use credit scores to gauge responsibility, payday lenders assess grammar to determine credit worthiness. But zip codes are also a stand-in for race, credit scores for wealth, and poor grammar for immigrants.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
Readin’, Writin’, and ‘Rithmatic B racis’? I doubt it.
If we like it, it has to be racist.
For me, it was wait until the next evening until I found out how many typos I had made typing up the damn punch cards.
Yeah, I be that old.
I moved from Chicago to Bloomington IL (Home of State Farm which FAIR isaac favors for marketing reasons). My driving was the same. I’d start 5 am Monday and makes stops all the way to Cairo. Then up to Galena...to Zion ...Chicago burbs (office in Roselle) and back to Cairo. My “rating was “business use” “over 100,000 per year”.
Zero crashes, zero claims. Two speeding tickets per year and I deserved many more than that. The amount of time actually in Chicago was not significantly different. Working in insurance, I had access to the actuaries, underwriters and data.
My Chicago address was 150 ft from where the Kennedy xway slopes down from a bridge above two other bridges down to the underground Hubbard cave. This downshill stretch is exactly where the traffic tightens up and slows down. Cars switch lanes to find their exit and to get a car length up on others. They do this by dodging in front of heavy trucks that leave the extra stopping space they need.
This stretch beside my house in my zip and police district (for 1000 critical feet) was the biggest location for crashes anywhere in Chicago. So my zip and police district got blamed.
But 99.999% of the cars on this stretch were not from my zip or police district. Over 90% were not from any part of Chicago. A high percentage of people in the city take public transit and don’t have cars. Or, if they do, they don’t drive them to work.
Truth = Hate Facts
Yeah, my first computer class was on punch cards. Second was on time-share terminals. Then when I was in grad school, I had the PC. So I sort of saw it all in my college years.
No Pythagorus from sub saharan Africa huh???
Credit Scores - used to asses if you have behaviors such as a gambling problem or a level of debt that make you inclined to steal from a potential employer.
Wish it was original. I don’t know who said it first, but it may have been Steve Sailer :)
Yeah, math is racist.
That’s why minorities sign stupid contracts to RENT furniture and appliances from cheesy rental centers, instead of just purchasing on the installment plan for much less from a reputable retailer.
I knew of a woman who paid 10% to cash every paycheck at a check emporium, because opening a FREE checking account at a bank was just too complicated. So a $500 paycheck cost her $50, every time.
Rent-a-centers and check cashing booths charge outrages fees and target ignorant ghetto dwellers. But nobody forces them to do business with these establishments.
If they did the math, they’d take their business elsewhere.
“Facts are the enemy of Truth.” - Cervantes
I find that out just now. If my memory serves, I heard it from Jim Rockford.
As freshman undergrads, we used to get two runs a day, and had to leave our decks in the top drawer of a file cabinet in the Physics building. There were usually rubber bands in there, for our convenience, but on one occasion, there were none, much to my consternation. My reaction was to bellow a heartfelt, WELL F*** ME IN THE A**H*** ! ... and then I looked up and there was a girl sitting in the room “studying” as was the particular habit of girls in those days. She was starting to turn around, but I assure you she never saw me!
Make the questions pertinent to the class:
If there are 5 cops and you shoot three of them, how many cops are left?
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