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wallace_f | 6 years ago

Physics has made a lot of progress in social justice and representation and these kinds of comments putting down "her point of view" is the type of toxic masculinity that will send us back 100 years.

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dang|6 years ago

Would you please stop taking HN threads into ideological flamewar? This was a clear violation of the site guidelines, which say: "Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith."

We've had to ask you a ton of times not to post like this. If you keep doing it we're going to have to ban you.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22034356 and marked it off-topic.

Pigo|6 years ago

Just out of curiosity, how was op supposed to phrase that sentence in order to keep from being toxic? Was it just the pronoun that was offensive, or was it just having any critique at all?

Disagreement and critique is a positive thing if it's done with respect. Handling someone with kid-gloves is demeaning.

wallace_f|6 years ago

See below comments, particularly shkmmo's. My comment above was socratic irony.

armatav|6 years ago

I don’t think physics operates on anything resembling a social-justice system - nothing like the parent comment is going to send us backwards any amount of time in the field, but an attitude that bars commentary might stagnate us for a long time.

wallace_f|6 years ago

>I don’t think physics operates on anything resembling a social-justice system

Physicists are chosen within the Academic-Governmental Complex, and as such physicists are chosen according to its preferences. Maybe this is a big problem? It's not just with respect to selection based on gender, race or socioeconomics. Have you read Paul Graham's Lesson to Unlearn, about the adverse incentives and maligned merits which academia chooses for: http://www.paulgraham.com/lesson.html

Personally, I just hate it when people praise Academia (I see it often with Wall Steeet, too) as being a shining example of social justice like its some gift-wrapped paper around a rotten core.

>an attitude that bars commentary might stagnate us for a long time.

I agree. Now watch comments such as these incite downvotes and inflammatory responses because they question assumptions and make people feel uncomfortable.

frostburg|6 years ago

That statement would read as arrogance from anyone.

shkkmo|6 years ago

It isn't a throwaway comment, it is reference to writing and work she has been doing for quite a while. It does come across as fairly arrogant without the context of all her other writing and work. With that context it comes across to me as more of an expression of frustration.