What Zunger claims Damore wrote:
“We should stop trying to make it possible for women to be engineers, it’s just not worth it.” And
“I think one-third of my colleagues are either biologically unsuited to do their jobs, or if not are exceptions and should be suspected of such until they can prove otherwise to each and every person’s satisfaction.”
What Damore (manifesto author) actually wrote:
“I strongly believe in gender and racial diversity, and I think we should strive for more.”
“I hope it’s clear that I’m not saying that diversity is bad, that Google or society is 100% fair, that we shouldn’t try to correct for existing biases, or that minorities have the same experience of those in the majority. My larger point is that we have an intolerance for ideas and evidence that don’t fit a certain ideology. I’m also not saying that we should restrict people to certain gender roles; I’m advocating for quite the opposite: treat people as individuals, not as just another member of their group (tribalism).”
And
“I’m simply stating that the distribution of preferences and abilities of men and women differ in part due to biological causes and that these differences may explain why we don’t see equal representation of women in tech and leadership. Many of these differences are small and there’s significant overlap between men and women, so you can’t say anything about an individual given these population level distributions.”
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The interesting question is why Zunger, and his mob, has such a strong almost emotional need to perpetrate this distortion and then crucify the crude effigy they created? Is it just because it makes them feel like heroes, the good guys, the protectors? I can see how such decisive righteousness feels good, but there may be a price (in addition to the real person crucified): Truly addressing the issues at the core of our corporate culture may require a less simplistic, more truthful and intelligent discussion (than PC apologetics has to offer). It may require dealing with the gender continuum and individual difference truly honestly and optimally and benevolently rather than denying them. If we celebrate, rather than deny, the diversity of our species we may perhaps one day consider expanding our performance metrics and incentive structures to capture and reward more contributions from a wider array of contributors.