After Snowden, the NSA Faces Recruitment Challenge

Re:After Snowden, the NSA Faces Recruitment Challenge by jacquesm on Tuesday March 31, 2015 @01:54PM (#9298470)

At a guess they are ordinary people thinking they are doing something good and working hard for the cause, be it a love for their country or genuine sense of protecting their own or some concept ('freedom'). On average they'll be very intelligent and working harder than their counterparts in industry for less money.

True believers with good intentions.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:After Snowden, the NSA Faces Recruitment Challenge by LLWM on Tuesday March 31, 2015 @02:13PM (#9298626)

At a guess you believe they're not actually doing something good even though you are, on average, less informed about their mission and activities, less intelligent, and lazier.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:After Snowden, the NSA Faces Recruitment Challenge by jacquesm on Tuesday March 31, 2015 @02:42PM (#9298882)

> At a guess you believe they're not actually doing something good

Correct, and the evidence available so far strengthens that belief.

> even though you are, on average, less informed about their mission and activities,

That's not my fault though, I'd love to be more informed, but hey, secrets!

> less intelligent,

Quite probably.

> and lazier.

That's very well possible but I actually highly doubt it.

So, why the insults? Did you feel somehow implicated?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:After Snowden, the NSA Faces Recruitment Challenge by LLWM on Tuesday March 31, 2015 @03:51PM (#9299393)

It's not meant as an insult. I'm just riffing off of your own comment that

>On average they'll be very intelligent and working harder than their counterparts in industry for less money.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:After Snowden, the NSA Faces Recruitment Challenge by Cyther606 on Tuesday March 31, 2015 @02:47PM (#9298919)

The Nazis would say the same of the Gestapo to dissenters, albeit with a tinge less arrogance.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:After Snowden, the NSA Faces Recruitment Challenge by LLWM on Tuesday March 31, 2015 @03:54PM (#9299419)

They would probably also say that smoking is bad for your health.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:After Snowden, the NSA Faces Recruitment Challenge by Peaker on Tuesday March 31, 2015 @07:33PM (#9300599)

Less prone to cognitive biases, though.

People all want to feel that they're doing good things, and not evil. They'll rationalize all sorts of things to believe that.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:After Snowden, the NSA Faces Recruitment Challenge by LLWM on Wednesday April 01, 2015 @09:33AM (#9303358)

Do you include yourself in that, or are you not a people?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:After Snowden, the NSA Faces Recruitment Challenge by Peaker on Wednesday April 01, 2015 @10:27AM (#9303806)

I include myself, of course. But I don't work for the NSA, so I don't have any particular need to rationalize their behavior as good.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:After Snowden, the NSA Faces Recruitment Challenge by LLWM on Wednesday April 01, 2015 @12:47PM (#9304941)

Well, obviously, since you don't do so. You rationalize it as bad.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:After Snowden, the NSA Faces Recruitment Challenge by Peaker on Wednesday April 01, 2015 @05:53PM (#9307196)

We established the cognitive bias to rationalize it as good.

What would the cognitive bias to rationalize it as bad be?

The reason I believe it is bad is because it violates the spirit of the 4th amendment. It gives incredible power to an organization with no effective oversight. It lacks proper judicial review, and the existing supposed review has been shown to be a farce. It makes everyone using technology less secure. It wastes everyone's resources who have to work against and around the NSA.

Everyone knows they are being watched, listened to, tracked everywhere.

The big deal, though, is the power concentration and chilling effect of such massive surveillance even the Stasi couldn't dream of.

[ Parent | on HN ]