[NCSG-Discuss] On Diversity and Discrimination

[Alex Gakuru]

Marc,

How I always enjoy reading your posts!

Alex

On Fri, Feb 1, 2013 at 9:03 AM, Marc Perkel <marc at churchofreality.org>wrote:

> I agree on interest diversity. Third world view needs representation. I'm
> from West Virginia, kind of third world if you've ever been there. NGOs,
> education, Libertarians, genius geeks, and hookers. Hookers are always
> being discriminated against.
>
> But - I agree with the premise about a broad range of ideas. But I'm not
> sure that the source of broad range means gender/sexual preferences/ or the
> frequencies of light reflected off the surface of the skin. Especially
> since we communicate by email, I have no idea what color anyone is, nor do
> I care. If we go back 75,000 years we all come from Africa and humans are
> less genetically diverse than my 3 cats.
>
> One person volunteered he was a white straight guy. This is a tech and
> policy forum. Color doesn't matter. There a plenty of women here and this
> list seems if anything slightly female dominate, so gender isn't a problem.
> As to sexual orientation, I don't see the world in terms of just straight
> and LGBT as if those were the only two sexual preferences. I like hippy
> women, geeks, prostitutes, and women from Craigslist. I have no idea if the
> BDSM community is represented. What about polygamy? Or celebacy?
>
> I think we need a balance of 49ers vs. Ravens fans.
>
> What about diversity of drug use? Or politics? Is America ready for a
> white president in 2016? Do we have enough Republicans in this group? I
> tried to find some anarchists but they didn't want to join. What about
> stupid people? Should policy only be made by people who are smart? Did you
> know that half of all people are below average?
>
> This group already seems pretty diverse to me.  Are we missing any
> perspective?
>
> Sorry - sometimes I get on a rant.
>
>
> On 1/31/2013 6:28 PM, Dan Krimm wrote:
>
>> Not sure how it works on Kolob, but "discrimination" has virtually nothing
>> to do with this.  I think that's a spurious point.
>>
>> The point is really about capturing the broad range of ideas that may
>> apply to policy making.  Regardless of individual talent, there may be a
>> narrow characteristic to the experience of any individual, and including
>> other individuals with other experience may allow the group as a whole to
>> "think" of some ideas or implications that it may not imagine without a
>> diverse group.  Some of those ideas may be the best ones, in the context
>> of a particular policy deliberation, or may lead to ideas that no single
>> participant would have thought of without the collective discourse.
>>
>> I think this diversity is especially important geographically, but other
>> demographic variation is important too.
>>
>> It's not about what is valuable to any individual in the opportunity to
>> participate.  It's about what is valuable to the group in having diverse
>> participation.  It's about a better group outcome.
>>
>> If a sports team doesn't have a good diverse balance of athletic roles
>> (say, a basketball team with all centers and no guards, or vice versa), it
>> won't compete very well.  Policy teams have similar dynamics.
>>
>> Dan
>>
>>
>>
>> On Thu, January 31, 2013 6:12 pm, Marc Perkel wrote:
>>
>>> I'm leaning against the idea of diversity/discrimination in decision
>>> making bodies unless there is a reason to do so. One can not assume that
>>> discrimination exists by default. I don't know if you are talking about
>>> this email group or not but I have no idea what color/gender/or sexual
>>> orientation anyone on this list is. Nor do I care. I see it as a
>>> distinction without a difference.
>>>
>>> I myself am a cybernetic artificial life form from the future. I come
>>> from the planet Kolob. We are an androgynous species. We reproduce by
>>> mitosis, which is splitting in half creating 2 individuals. We are
>>> either invisible or appear to be whatever shape we choose to make you
>>> puny humans feel comfortable. We are a telepathic race and share a
>>> singular consciousness. I communicate with you using a subspace
>>> inter-dimentional modem.
>>>
>>>
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