Full piece here (published in 2011):
I don’t know if I would choose to study anthropology…:
“Within a few days, the executive board began receiving angry e-mails from self-identified scientific anthropologists who were irate about dropping the word “science” from the long-range plan.”
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James Damore at Quillette: ‘The Case For Diversity‘
‘One’s stance on diversity policies often just depends on what metric you’re trying to optimize, causing both sides to talk past each other. This lack of dialogue is destructive, creating multimillion dollar programs of marginal efficacy and harmful side-effects. If done well, diversity can be good, but it’s far from the panacea it’s made out to be.’
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Damore’s piece reminded me of Pournelle’s Iron Law of Bureaucracy:
Perhaps Mr. Damore’s case can act as evidence for it:
‘Pournelle’s Iron Law of Bureaucracy states that in any bureaucratic organization there will be two kinds of people”:
First, there will be those who are devoted to the goals of the organization. Examples are dedicated classroom teachers in an educational bureaucracy, many of the engineers and launch technicians and scientists at NASA, even some agricultural scientists and advisors in the former Soviet Union collective farming administration.
Secondly, there will be those dedicated to the organization itself. Examples are many of the administrators in the education system, many professors of education, many teachers union officials, much of the NASA headquarters staff, etc.
The Iron Law states that in every case the second group will gain and keep control of the organization. It will write the rules, and control promotions within the organization.’
Related On This Site: Perhaps you can make judgments in the humanities, and they don’t need to be political: Roger Scruton In The American Spectator Via A & L Daily: Farewell To Judgment
What are the ethical obligations of an anthropologist/author/journalist? From Savage Minds: More On The Lawsuit Against Jared Diamond…From The Chronicle Of Higher Education: Jared Diamond’s Lawsuit…and: Jared Diamond: “Vengeance Is Ours” In The New Yorker…
More of the spirit of theory slipping into politics…another sign of the times?: The Economist on Moral Thinking: David Sloan Wilson’s Research