Can a system convert bad thinking into good?
Have you seen the experiments in which strangers try to guess how many jelly beans are in a jar? The individual guesses are terrible, but when you take the average of those terrible guesses you end up with an estimate that is surprisingly accurate. Apparently that test can be repeated in a variety of ways.
0 CommentsWhile I wait for the link war to rage (see prior post), here are some new experimental comics. The Putin comics at the end are the best but he reappeared today and rudely ruined a promising humor set-up.
As a clarification, I have little interest in the politics of gender discrimination in the workplace. But the psychology of it fascinates me like few things have.
I doubt I have seen worse arguments on both sides of an issue. Most people identify as either a man or a woman, so the “my team” problem overwhelms our rational capacity. No one, including me, can come anywhere near objectivity on this issue. So how do you make rational decisions on a topic in which no human has even the slightest potential to be rational?
I like the challenge. And few people would be reckless enough to go where I plan to go on this.
Every time I see an article on the Internet about gender issues in the workplace, I see these two opposing comments:
1. There are many studies that show gender bias. For example, teachers give better grades on math tests to male students, but the difference vanishes when the tests have no name on them. Sheryl Sandberg’s book, Lean In, has lots of references to similar study results, or so I hear. And Vivian Giang got some of you riled up with examples here.
2. Another set of folks (all men) invariably point me to studies that suggest there is no pay difference between men and women once you adjust for experience and time on the job. And I hear there are studies saying there is no difference for younger women just entering the workplace.
How can both views be true?
I appoint myself the judge in this contest. Give me links to studies that support your point of view. I will assess those studies and pick a winner. Or I might declare that the studies are not clear when viewed in total. I will ask any interested parties (including Vivian Giang) to comment on the reliability and usefulness of the studies.
I have no idea how this will turn out. But I think you need to know my starting bias to assess my judging skills.
Keep in mind that the POINT of this is my ignorance. And my bias. I put it on full display for you because I think that is helpful on this issue. If you don’t know what others are thinking, you can not hope to communicate effectively. So as a public service, I present my biased, ignorant, male perspective. But I am open to revising my opinion based on data. Would you ask any more of me?
Here is my starting bias:
1. Gender discrimination in the workplace is a big problem, according to some types of studies and countless first-hand accounts. With so much smoke, I assume there is fire.
2. The problem of gender discrimination is curiously invisible to men, and that includes me. All I see is a confused ball of incomplete thinking on all sides. But that tells us nothing about how big the problem is. Cognitive dissonance is a reasonable hypothesis for why lots of folks fail to see the obvious. I see no reason to exclude myself from the ranks of the deluded.
3. My working hypothesis is that studies showing gender bias in controlled tests don’t translate into the workplace as pay differentials – at least in this country – because educated adults are on the alert for gender bias. So we use our reason to compensate for the bias, if for no other reason than to avoid lawsuits. Any time I am involved in hiring, the risk of unintentional bias is always top of mind. And since men have a biological impulse to be successful and powerful to attract quality mates, hiring the right employees (and avoiding lawsuits) is in our best interest.
4. Some men are bullies and assholes. And most men are assholes at least some of the time. When men are bullies and assholes to each other, we interpret it as exactly that. But if I observe those same bullies and assholes mistreating a woman, I interpret it as sexism. I assume others see it the same way.
5. I have also blogged that I think women should have a few superior rights to men because they handle the vital function of reproduction. In general, society grants extra rights to folks who take on extra responsibility. That’s why cops can speed, soldiers can kill, and so on. One example of extra rights in this context is that I think only women should have a vote on abortion laws.
Things get thornier when you are talking about a workplace with pregnant women, potentially pregnant women, and moms. Big companies can absorb some extra friction for the larger benefit of society, but small ones do not have that option. If you own a small business, you don’t want to have two of your three employees out on maternity leave at the same time, to pick a worst-case scenario. A rational small business owner will discriminate in that case and hope to get away with it. And a rational victim of discrimination in that case will sue. That part of the story seems clear to everyone. And I have not heard a proposed solution. But if a proposed solution provided superior rights for women without hurting small businesses, I can imagine that working for me.
6. The other day a good friend who works as a massage therapist was describing a time in her past she was a victim of gender discrimination. The story sounded convincing to me. Then I asked if she knew I would not have considered her as my massage therapist if she were a man.
Cricket noises.
Personally, I have willfully discriminated by gender in my business dealings at least … oh, a hundred times. And every time it was in favor of women, simply because I prefer the energy. I spend way too much time with men because of shared interests. I need balance in my life, so I bend the rules to get it. I have never considered using a male real estate broker, for example. I get the same service from a woman and it is a great break from the dude-centric rest of my life.
0 CommentsDid you hear that the U.S. military is developing flying dragons that shoot laser beams from their eyes? They don’t say that directly, but you can see the parts coming together.
A drone is about halfway to being a flying dragon already. And recently the military tested a laser weapon that destroyed a truck at a distance. It is only a matter of time before the military miniaturizes laser weapons and puts them on drones.
0 CommentsI am not a joiner. But if someone were to ask me which political party they should join, that answer is easy. You should be a Republican, for the health benefits.
0 CommentsOne of the most useful discoveries about my experimental comic Robots Read News was that my vulgar humor was not as popular as I had predicted and hoped. That makes sense, now that I think about it. Most adults would not share or re-tweet vulgarity even if they enjoyed consuming it. And in 2015, social media is the game. Any content that your core readers will not share might as well not exist. Oh, and the fact that it isn’t funny. That probably matters too.
0 CommentsI saw a tidbit in a Business Insider story about a guy who had a positive emotional reaction to a computer-simulated woman he viewed with 3D goggles.
I was disgusted. The idea that software could be compared to the beauty and wonder of the human experience sent a shudder down my spine. Personally, I put a high value on the human spirit because that is what makes us special. Robots can never give me what I get from human relationships.
Well, one exception.
I assume a simulated human would be punctual, and I like punctuality. So we would get along great in that one, narrow way. But in general, I can not even imagine dating a soulless collection of ones and zeroes.
Although … I like the convenience of having a robot on call. They are never sick or distracted and they never go drinking with the other frustrated robots. I have a full schedule, and trying to coordinate with another busy human is like trying to lasso greased kittens. But all things considered, scheduling is a minor inconvenience when you consider the joy of human bonding and, dare I say, love.
But … now that I think about it … I suppose I would enjoy life more if my personal preferences always ruled the day. But hey, who says I’m always right about what I need? I might think I need a nap but what I really need is to hold shopping bags and watch someone text. You have to keep an open mind about things.
You are probably thinking that a robot would be programmed to always be upbeat, positive, cheerful, and optimistic. That sounds great on paper, but I would get tired of all that optimism. It wears you down. I prefer humans, flaws and all.
Speaking of flaws, humans tend to stop going to the gym as soon as they get into relationships. Sometimes they gain weight or cut their hair in a way that reminds you of Hitler’s many youth programs. But those are small, external issues. Love is about the person you are on the inside.
Speaking of my insides, I suppose a robot would never complain about my lack of romance, my inability to find things in plain sight, or my curious inability to do anything practical around the house. You might think I would enjoy a life with no complaining, but how can I improve unless someone makes me feel bad no matter what I do?
0 CommentsI am testing out some edgier material today just to see if a robot can get away with it.
0 CommentsAre you having trouble focusing because the world is full of distractions? I have a brain trick that might help. I’ll get to that in a minute.
I have never been diagnosed with ADDHD. But I do have a massive problem with managing distractions. I have always had problems focusing on the uninteresting, but it feels as if the complexity of life in 2015 has tripled my problem.
To get a sense of the challenge, here’s what I did between 5-7 AM this morning.
- Wrote a Sunday comic about negotiating
- Wrote a Robots Read News comic
- Blogged about my co-writers, on three different topics
- Handled logistics for a speaking trip, one of several upcoming
- Solved two or three technical problems
- Studies up on RSS feeds and click-through rates
- Researched Tumblr to see if we lose traffic by hiding organic search
- Answered a continuous stream of email, text messages, and questions
- Read the comments on my blog
- Studied my site analytics looking for useful nuggets
- Worked through three other potential blog topics in my mind.
- Wrote this blog post while I was thinking of it (at around 9 AM)
And that is the START of my workday. I still have a movie script to tweak forward, a magazine cover photo-shoot to negotiate, check the unreleased app for my start-up (CalendarTree), prepare my argument for an upcoming political battle in California (which you will enjoy watching) and on and on.
Oh, and I invented a solution to a universal problem yesterday, and wire-framed it for an app. Today I will decide whether I should share it with my start-up team or wait until we release the new features already in the pipeline.
Now imagine all of that stuff in my head at the same time, along with my immediate bodily needs, plus my complicated social life.
Focus? I don’t even remember what it was like to have it.
So here’s my little trick when my mind is in fifty places and I need it to be in one place so I can accomplish a simple task right now:
Then I command my hand to do the thing I need it to do, which usually involves touching a keyboard or my phone. If I need to stand up and walk to another room, I hold my hand in front of me and literally follow it to my destination, never losing focus. I also have to repeat the task, aloud, while following my hand, as in “Feed the cat. Feed the cat. Feed the cat.” Otherwise I end up in the garage fixing something that popped into my head on the way to the cat’s bowl.
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Other Interesting Things Today…
I predict that healthcare expenses will someday drop to 25% of their current level thanks to advances in medical devices. (I sometimes see the new stuff in beta when they pitch for funding, and WOW.) For example, check out a new digital stethoscope that promises to make a big difference.
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