Yesterday story about Gwen comes to mind:
Re:Charlie Stross on Girls Around Me
by PaperclipTaken on Saturday March 31, 2012 @03:57PM
(#3781350)
In some cases, you are correct. For instance, if I am hiring someone to sell cars, I need a person who I can expect to be liked even by the most racist people.
But say that I am only slightly racist. If I knew you were Black, I probably would not go out of my way to say high to you. But once we are having a conversation it's easy for me to relate to you and my prejudices are more likely to be overridden.
I'd start with how good they are at sales. If you sell twice as many cars to everybody else, then why should you care if there are some bigots who don't buy your cars.
Re:Charlie Stross on Girls Around Me
by neutronicus on Sunday April 01, 2012 @09:50AM
(#3783669)
My biggest personal fear is the "history of depression" one, because I can plausibly conceal it (in fact, there are a number of laws to help me in doing so).
Re:Charlie Stross on Girls Around Me
by steve-howard on Sunday April 01, 2012 @03:03PM
(#3784578)
My standing question for the last several years has been "if we know absolutely everything about absolutely everyone, will some taboos disappear?" Depression is vastly more common than some people think, and if we're going to lose all privacy it'd be nice if we understood each other a little better.
Re:Charlie Stross on Girls Around Me
by adrianhoward on Saturday March 31, 2012 @01:21PM
(#3780863)
True.
It's easier to fix people sucking if said suckage is easily observable though...
Re:Charlie Stross on Girls Around Me
by andrewcooke on Saturday March 31, 2012 @06:08PM
(#3781696)
i don't disagree with what you say, but i worry that what you are implying is that people should be able to able to suck freely - not everyone is lucky enough to be able to have that attitude to discrimination.
If I showed up to a job interview where someone wanted a "white, heterosexual, protestant men with libertarian leanings, no history of depression, unlikely to use alcohol in their free time, who don't look pornography, and are predisposed towards compliance with authority", it would be a strong disappointment for both of us. The problem is not targeted ads. The problem is that people suck.