What Happens When Google Disagrees With You? [video]

Prager University ^ | 11-9-2017 | James Damore

[servo1969]

I used to be a senior software engineer at Google. Until they fired me.

For doing something unforgivable...

Something so controversial that it was the number one news story for days.

My crime: I wrote an internal document that, among other things, suggested that men and women, on average, are different.

Like I told you: Unforgivable.

The politically progressive viewpoint, which is dominant at Google and in the media, is that all disparities in society are due to injustices. Or, in this case, that the gender gap in tech is solely due to some form of sexism.

But is this true?

The politically correct answer is: yes. And Google acts accordingly. It treats men and women differently during hiring and promotion, holds official women-only events, and gives mandatory sensitivity training on how to combat alleged sexist bias.

Of course, all of this makes sense if sexism is indeed the sole cause of the imbalance.

But what if men and women are not exactly the same?

Then, sexism is just one of many possible causes of the imbalance, and exclusionary programs and differential treatment can be a counterproductive form of sexism. These practices actually increase tensions and make some feel like Google cares more about their gender than their programming ability.

As an engineer, when I’m faced with a problem, I want to solve it. So, I decided to research the premise: that men and women are exactly the same.

I wrote my findings in a 10-page document titled, “Google’s Ideological Echo Chamber.” You can read it online.

What did I discover? That not all of the male-female disparity in tech may be the result of sexism.That at least some of it may be attributed to men and women having different goals for their careers and their lives.

To cite just two examples:

In the study, ”Women, Careers, and Work-Life Preferences,” published in the British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, the study’s authors conclude that women across populations tend to look for more work-life balance, while men tend to have a higher drive for status.

And according to a study by Cal State Fullerton psychologist Richard Lippa, men, on average, tend to be more interested in things, while women tend to be more interested in people.

These findings have been replicated many times. They’ve actually been cited by other researchers as a cause for the gender gap in tech.

In other words, I didn’t make this stuff up.

In fact, after my document came under attack, evolutionary psychologist Geoffrey Miller said its “empirical claims are scientifically accurate.”

But Google disagreed. Like…really disagreed.

First, the company’s newly appointed VP of Diversity, Integrity, and Governance, Danielle Brown, posted a memo that said my report “advanced incorrect assumptions about gender.”

Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, sent a memo to all employees saying that I “cross[ed] the line by advancing harmful gender stereotypes.” This was, he added, “not O.K.”

Then, he fired me.

By that point, much to my shock, my document had gone viral. News outlets were branding it an “anti-diversity manifesto.”

But if they had read what I wrote, they could see for themselves that it was pro-diversity. I had suggested multiple ways that we could get more women into tech without resorting to counterproductive discrimination.

Ironic, isn’t it? The company that hires some of the smartest people in the world couldn’t handle a well-reasoned, scientific discussion.

But my firing pales in comparison to a larger issue: Will Google force upon its users the same politically correct views that it forces upon its employees?

The evidence is disturbing. Google already manipulates its products to fit a certain viewpoint.

Just one example: YouTube, Google’s video platform, restricts access to dozens of PragerU videos, along with videos made by other influential moderates and conservatives.

Yes—Google is a business and can set its own policies. But for its billions of users, Google is their main gateway to information, the lens through which they view the world.

This makes Google, in some ways, more powerful than even the government.

And that means Google has a special responsibility to, well…simply follow its own motto: “Don’t be evil.”

I’m James Damore for Prager University.

[servo1969]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9_o42QaVnA

[Bob Celeste]

wish he would tell us the infrastructure vulnerabilities

[eyeamok]

Yes—Google is a business and can set its own policies.

I sort of disagree, Google and others are “Public Utilities” and should be Criminally Prosecuted and Civilly Bankrupted for their Blatant Admitted Discrimination.

[LambSlave]

This is so obvious, that women seek work life balance and are not generally willing to make the sacrifice or take the pain that top men are willing to do to advance their careers. Interviewing new women employees in my field, almost half cite work/life balance as a top priority. I have never heard this from a man. Also, more quantitative: I’ve collected all the leave donation requests over a decade from a 20,000 employee sample size. Leave donations occur when someone has used all available leave, and begs others to donate their own leave to them. Despite being about 1/4th of our STEM heavy workforce, women account for 2/3 of all of these requests, and I have over a decade of data, so this is an enormous sample size. Our organization’s top priority is to promote women and minorities into senior leadership positions, and out of the women in the pipeline for these positions half have taken long term absences from work to raise children, then come back to same position and then moved right into promotion into a higher management position. I feel if anything, women have an advantageous position because of affirmative action initiatives, and are absolutely not discriminated against in the STEM workforce.

[SharpRightTurn]

“Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, sent a memo to all employees saying that I “cross[ed] the line by advancing harmful gender stereotypes.””

Gather your things up and report to the Ministry of Truth.

[a fool in paradise]

How are things in India?

I see he was up for CEO of Microsoft but lost out to another Indian.

Have to be able to appreciate that offshore labor.

But anyone has the shot to be in leadership at these billion dollar companies, right? Just a coincidence?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sundar_Pichai

[antidisestablishment]

Google is completely non-biased. These results prove it:

https://www.google.com/search?q=american+scientists+and+inventors&prmd=insv&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiw6uTa0rHXAhVK4iYKHfKbD58Q_AUIEigB&biw=736&bih=331&dpr=3

[Beowulf9]

I see all the time when people have kids the obvious differences between the sexes is never more evident than the behavior of little boys and little girls.

[thirst4truth]

I clicked on it, were there any white scientists or inventors in American history? It did not look it on that page.

[Bitman]

Wow. Not biased at all are they.

[Tenacious 1]

“Discrimination” has denigrated into a subjective and politically correct gray area of confusion with regards to actual violations Vs. cultural victim champions.

The lines have been blurred to a point where normal human interaction and work relationships are difficult to manage. It’s hard to build strong teams when colleagues cant get to know and trust each other. Worse, it makes diminishes the seriousness of actual discrimination allegations.

“Steve made Becky cry. SoSteve must be a sexist that is creating a hostile work environment for her.” Steve might try to avoid working with women so that this misunderstanding doesn’t happen again. Then Becky feels she is not included and complains about sexism.

There is no winning when “feelings” drives irrational cultural political correctness to a point where it dictates legal action.

[antidisestablishment]

That is a straight-up search. Apparently there are no white scientists, inventors, or entertainers

[discostu]

Be careful when you write a hill to die on memo, they just might take you up on it.

[conservativeimage]

Side note the the man/woman issue:

This false notion of equality has origins from prehistory. The argument that men and women are equals is parallel to the argument that Lucifer had with the creator. The creator has a dominant role to honor and Lucifer who was talented and beautiful to look at was dissatisfied with a subservient role. Noticing the similarity between his own experience and Eve's role with Adam, he took advantage of the woman's vulnerability and fed her misconceptions of grievance. Altering the structure of society by insisting men and women are the same is the same argument the devil had with God.

SAME

We know the consequences.

[marktwain]

Be careful when you write a hill to die on memo, they just might take you up on it.

---

The problem was, it wasn’t a hill to die on memo.

The problem is, no one knows the rules, because they are changed all the time.

It is right out of 1984.

Eastasia has always been at war with Oceania

[Redcitizen]

For later read.

[NorthMountain]

VP of Diversity, Integrity, and Governance, Danielle Brown

There's your problem, right there ...

The mere existence of a "VP of Diversity, Integrity, and Governance" is poison.

[TomServo]

men, on average, tend to be more interested in things, while women tend to be more interested in people.

Somewhere I read that Men communicate to trade information, Women communicate to bond.

[discostu]

That was totally a hill to die on memo. And the rules are pretty simple, especially in his case, if you write a memo telling the CEO they’re dumb for treating people equally (or really anything) you should expect consequences. Especially if it goes viral.

Trying to say this guy had no way of realizing he was writing his resignation is right out of 1984. That kind of memo would have gotten him fired in the 50s.

[Ace's Dad]

James, you are "so right;" In other words, I didn’t make this stuff up.

My own family has actual experience. My youngest sister was the academic super-star of the family. One of the first woman BSEE computer designers, she only worked in the field (in silicon vally) until her first child was born. She then switched to teaching, successfully; never returning to actual board-level design. Never. I sometimes wonder how far she could have progressed.