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1. I don't recall him ever "asking for forgiveness," or doing anything besides doubling down on his memo.

2. The "outrage mob" isn't real. You know who got James Damore fired? Himself. It's especially telling that you, and people who defend him, attribute zero fault whatsoever to the person who actually wrote the memo.




> 2. The "outrage mob" isn't real.

How am I supposed to take you seriously when you're denying the sheer amount of negative media attention, all the outrage Tweets, and the general sentiment in online discussions like this one that are happening years later?

We can discuss the extent of the outrage mob, but your idea that there's no outrage mob at all is baffling.

> You know who got James Damore fired? Himself.

No, he didn't get himself fired. His employer fired him.

> It's especially telling that you, and people who defend him, attribute zero fault whatsoever to the person who actually wrote the memo.

"Zero fault"? Your telepathy is way off, because I didn't say once that Damore has no fault.

The outrage mob "isn't real", yet you are so quick to dismiss those who think that Damore is defensible.


1. Calling it an outrage "mob" is dishonest, and that's why I say it doesn't exist. It's not mob mentality. Did it occur to you that there are reasons that many people could have been outraged by what he wrote? Calling it a "mob" is just you dismissing that.

2. Yes, he got himself fired. Nobody made him write that, and even after writing it, nobody made him post it on a large mailing list where an entire workforce could read it.

3. You don't think his actions were what caused him to get fired. So whose fault was it, if not his? You're more intent on making a statement against the "outrage mob" than actually acknowledging why doing what Damore did might get you fired at any company.

Again, it's especially telling that you and the people who defend Damore attribute zero fault to the person who actually wrote the memo.


> Calling it an outrage "mob" is dishonest

> Again, it's especially telling that you and the people who defend attribute zero fault to the person who actually wrote the memo.

I've been honest and I replied in good faith, and yet you just sidestep and lump me in with some made up group of people whom you say attribute "zero fault" to Damore. You didn't listen to me at all. You didn't even ask me what faults I would attribute to Damore after I denied your perception of what I'm thinking. Why should anyone have a conversation with you?


If you're replying in good faith, you should either defend your "outrage mob" accusation or apologize for it.


So they can just dismiss things I say and pretend they can read my mind, but I am supposed to either defend or apologize for it because someone says so?

EDIT: I mistakenly thought your comment was from the person I was having the conversation with.


Thanks for the correction. That's an easy mistake to make here! I've done it myself.


It literally is a mob.


> It's especially telling that you, and people who defend him, attribute zero fault whatsoever to the person who actually wrote the memo.

'Zero' and 'whatsoever' are simply wrong. It's a strawman.

> The "outrage mob" isn't real.

I would certainly characterize the collective behavior of the Google employees as a mob. You can see it for yourself in the exhibits in Damore's suit:

https://www.dhillonlaw.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/201804...

Numerous employees take the stance that violence is acceptable, as long as it's directed towards hateful people. Numerous employees vowing to shun, ridicule and ignore anyone who remotely suggests support or agreement with any part of the memo. Numerous employees taking the stance that dissent is a violent act for which violence must be returned. Shamelessly of all, a senior Site Reliability Engineer vows to "keep hounding Damore" until one of them is fired.

This is not acceptable behavior for a group of people that are ostensibly at the top of their field. They are not faultless. They share, at minimum, some of the blame.

Of course, if you meant your statement to be hyperbolic, then you are being flippant, and needlessly so.


> You know who got James Damore fired? Himself

He didn't fire himself, Google fired him.

> It's especially telling that you, and people who defend him, attribute zero fault whatsoever to the person who actually

It's funny that you and the people who attack him always seem to completely ignore everything the parent comment you're replying to said, and write a comment that basically amounts to "but, you're wrong!"


Damore, trying to make an earnest intellectual contribution, got a lot of people really upset, and they campaigned to have him destroyed.

This is the most visceral and obvious example of an outrage mob possible.


Damore's action was explicitly political. Its whole point was that Google was just too darned left, and foolish for being so.

One can't reasonably try to reach a large audience with something intentionally upsetting and then be surprised that those people are in fact upset. Freedom of speech cannot mean freedom from other people's speech.


I feel bad for anyone who disagrees with this. Their bias prevents them from seeing the world as it truly exists.


I feel bad for anyone who believes that their political opinions just happen to represent "the world as it truly exists".


Google is entirely full of vindictive people with blatantly political opinions - many who have acted with obvious malice towards others, so spare us the hypocrisy.

If this were truly a matter of 'opinion rocking the boat' - then there would be a bunch of other firings, policy changes etc. - but that is not the case at all.


> The "outrage mob" isn't real.

If you mean this in general (not just the Damore thing), with the likes of twitter, it's pretty well documented that the outrage mob is real.


#2: Nothing wrong with having opinions. He shouldn't have been fired over them, especially considering he was directly encouraged to pronounce them.


Pretty sure you don't want to admit the outrage mob is real because you are part of it.


>The "outrage mob" isn't real.

You have got to be kidding me.

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


You mean consequences for your behavior?


"You mean consequences for your behavior?"

Outrage mobs are by definition 'consequences for some behavior'.

But the implication that someone should be vilified globally for having an earnest and not entirely unreasonable intellectual opinion makes his responders an 'outrage mob'.

Damore had no malice, ill will, his opinion was made ostensibly for some positive will, among a relatively private group.

If he was beating his wife, then there'd be a legit consequence for his behavior right? And some outrage would be justified.

But that's obviously not the case.

The response is the most 'outrage mob imaginable', with people still 'outraging' themselves on HN years later.


> not entirely unreasonable intellectual opinion

Despite reasoning his point of view well, it does not mean it's right, healthy, or valid.

And while Sexism and Racism are not equal, there do parallel in many ways.

How different is his memo than writings that discuss how the Negroid is a lesser form of human species, and there for it's condition is justified?

Scientifically, there is very little, if anything, that differs between a man and woman performing a job in tech. Why then do women continually report about discriminatory behavior in the work place?

Are they just making things up?


> Scientifically, there is very little, if anything, that differs between a man and woman performing a job in tech.

Thst wasn't the argument made. The argument wasn't about job performance, but job preference.


You are crossing streams.

This is not about whether Damore was 'right or wrong' - it's about whether he was within his right to make a reasonable statement and not get publicly murdered for it.

Also - your comment has also demonstrated the intellectual dishonestly against him by misrepresenting the thrust of his argument.

There are considerable differences between genders, this is not a scientifically controversial position, and in an entire 24 years of general upbringing, imbued with gendered differences and possibly marginal - but material - biological differences, is going to yield very different outcomes.

There are many fields in society that have unequal gender ratios and it's not remotely specific to 'tech'.

It's obviously a thorny subject, which requires some dispassionate thinking. We don't need people screaming 'Nazi' at the first hint that they might think someone, somewhere committed a 'thought crime' against their personal and very narrow view of the world.

This is the kind of bigotry that is not 'right, healthy or valid'.

The mob is much, much scarier than Damore.


> It's obviously a thorny subject, which requires some dispassionate thinking. We don't need people screaming 'Nazi' at the first hint that they might think someone, somewhere committed a 'thought crime' against their personal and very narrow view of the world.

Speaking of intellectual dishonesty...

"Women are just as equal as men" does not seem to be a very narrow view of the world.

> This is the kind of bigotry that is not 'right, healthy or valid'.

What bigotry is that--calling sexism for exactly what it is?


[flagged]


Domestic Violence is about power and control caused of the DV Perpetrator/Aggressor towards the survivor. DV perpetrators use a myriad of tactics to control the relationship with the "victim": financial, physical, emotional, children, and sex.

While the "victim" does bear some responsibility, it's usually with regards to how they are unable (or unwilling) to end a relationship with a DV perpetrator.


Damore should have just got a new job. I think I agree with this analogy.


You're being reductive about my explanation about the role a survivor plays in a DV relationship.

Recognizing, understanding, and ultimately forgiving yourself for why a person was in a DV relationship is part of the process survivors go through in order to move past it.

I know.

I'm a survivor.


In case it wasn't clear I don't actually think DV is the fundamentally the consequence of the victims action.


Having an opinion about my opinion is a violation of the NAP.


It may well be. I looked it up on wikipedia now, assuming you're talking about "Non-agression principle". I'm not sure I understand. Anyway, have a nice day.




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