A short personal opinion survey

WhiskersNT · 2017-08-09T19:27:32+00:00

Absolutely calm and thoughtful, this is the writing of a person who wants a discussion not somebody with an ax to grind

PS I see what you did there

GinSmokeLies · 2017-08-09T19:12:53+00:00

"We all have biases and use motivated reasoning to dismiss ideas that run counter to our internal values."

Agree.

"I strongly support trying to understand how and why people think the way they do."

Agree-ish. I generally like to do this myself but to say I "support" it seems weird.

"Being emotionally unengaged helps us better reason about the facts."

Mostly agree.

"We should treat people as individuals, not as just another member of their group (tribalism)."

Neither agree nor disagree; depends on the circumstances.

"Feminism has made great progress in freeing women from the female gender role."

Somewhat agree.

"Open and honest discussion with those who disagree can highlight our blind spots and help us grow."

Somewhat agree.

"I strongly believe in gender and racial diversity, and I think we should strive for more."

Neither agree nor disagree.

"Humans are generally biased towards protecting females."

Agree.

"The distribution of preferences and abilities of men and women differ in part due to biological causes. Many of these differences are small and there’s significant overlap between men and women, so you can’t say anything about an individual given these population level distributions."

Mostly agree.

What do you think about the tone of these questions? Is it calm or aggressive? Thoughtful or reactionary?

The tone is calm. I don't find them particularly thoughtful or reactionary. I do detect an agenda, but absent the context of this sub I might not.

shoup88 · 2017-08-09T19:26:55+00:00

"We all have biases and use motivated reasoning to dismiss ideas that run counter to our internal values."

True for the most part

"I strongly support trying to understand how and why people think the way they do."

Yes, but not always as a means to excuse or forgive behaviour

"Being emotionally unengaged helps us better reason about the facts."

Agree

"We should treat people as individuals, not as just another member of their group (tribalism)."

This is situational

"Feminism has made great progress in freeing women from the female gender role."

Yes, but your wording makes it sound as thought that is the primary goal of feminism, which I disagree with. There is a place for each gender role, and value in both feminine and masculine traits.

"Open and honest discussion with those who disagree can highlight our blind spots and help us grow."

Absolutely

"I strongly believe in gender and racial diversity, and I think we should strive for more."

Agreed

"Humans are generally biased towards protecting females."

To a point - I think in true emergency situations, humans lean towards "every man for himself"

"The distribution of preferences and abilities of men and women differ in part due to biological causes. Many of these differences are small and there’s significant overlap between men and women, so you can’t say anything about an individual given these population level distributions."

I'm not sure what you mean by this. Are you saying you could guess something about a stranger based on their sex with 100% certainty? I don't agree with that.

What do you think about the tone of these questions? Is it calm or aggressive? Thoughtful or reactionary?

Tone seems pretty neutral, but any time a user on PPD asks questions like these with zero context or further information, I am suspicious of the eventual "gotcha" follow up.

wub1234 · 2017-08-09T19:41:12+00:00

Yes, absolutely.
Yes.
I don't know to what extent we can be emotionally unengaged. I think it is a delusion to believe you can do this.
Agreed.
I would say suffragettes / women's lib have played a big role in this. Although I wouldn't use the term 'freed' or 'gender role'. Both genders will always have a certain predilection towards particular behaviours, but everyone should be free to pursue their own particular path without prejudice.
This can happen, I would suggest that it doesn't happen in the majority of cases.
I already outlined what I believe in during the answer to question 5. I don't believe we should strive for more diversity, I believe all perspectives, behaviours, etc, should be tolerated for all people, regardless of their biological characteristics, providing they don't infringe upon the freedoms and rights of others.
I wouldn't say biased, I would say culturally and instinctively inclined.
Clearly men and women have differing physical capabilities. I am not a big believer in gender-based biological determinism regarding intellectual proficiency or capability in particular areas of reasoning, etc. In my opinion, it is a question of motivation. I often hear that women apparently have more empathy than men, which I would personally resent as I believe I am as empathetic and emotionally literate as any woman. Women can excel in non-traditional areas if they are motivated to do so, and vice-versa, the question is whether they are indeed motivated to do so.

TheOneTrueMagnet · 2017-08-09T21:31:28+00:00

Agree
Agree
Agree
Agree
Agree and Disagree
Agree
Disagree
Agree
Agree

You are biased in your questions. These are obviously from the Google memo. You left out female neuroticism and a few other incendiary statements.

He wasn't wrong and he was using the correct language. The problem with our society is that maybe only 5% of the population can read that memo and actually understand it, and I am being generous here. The rest of the population is going to get upset at academic language or throw temper tantrums because they can't read.

Littleknownfacts · 2017-08-09T19:06:47+00:00

"We all have biases and use motivated reasoning to dismiss ideas that run counter to our internal values."

Agree.

"I strongly support trying to understand how and why people think the way they do."

Do you mean I strongly support myself understand other people or do I support other people trying to understand how other people think?

"Being emotionally unengaged helps us better reason about the facts.

Disagree. Particularly when the reasons and facts are emotionally based.

"We should treat people as individuals, not as just another member of their group (tribalism)."

Neutral.

"Feminism has made great progress in freeing women from the female gender role."

Agree. (Great in the sense of "a lot" not great as in "good" or "agree with").

"Open and honest discussion with those who disagree can highlight our blind spots and help us grow."

Agree.

"I strongly believe in gender and racial diversity, and I think we should strive for more."

Neutral. In some areas yes others no.

"Humans are generally biased towards protecting females."

Agree.

"The distribution of preferences and abilities of men and women differ in part due to biological causes. Many of these differences are small and there’s significant overlap between men and women, so you can’t say anything about an individual given these population level distributions."

Disagree.

What do you think about the tone of these questions? Is it calm or aggressive? Thoughtful or reactionary?

I'll reserve my answer to this until I see what conclusions you get from the answers.

Scurvemuch · 2017-08-09T19:26:03+00:00

"We all have biases and use motivated reasoning to dismiss ideas that run counter to our internal values."

Sure, and as we become aware of our biases we no longer use motivated reasoning, but just reasoning

"I strongly support trying to understand how and why people think the way they do."

yea ok

"Being emotionally unengaged helps us better reason about the facts."

sometimes

"We should treat people as individuals, not as just another member of their group (tribalism)."

Yes and we need to be aware of all of their traits, in order to not be dismissive about their tribal background. that would be offensive and possibly racist.

"Feminism has made great progress in freeing women from the female gender role."

Nah. men freed women.

"Open and honest discussion with those who disagree can highlight our blind spots and help us grow."

"can" is broad enough that its agreeable.

"I strongly believe in gender and racial diversity, and I think we should strive for more."

what does this even mean? more genders and more races? everyone the same? Everyone should be judged on their own. If women happen to not get selected for CEO positions or stem things, then its not genderist, its because each one was found to be sub par.

"Humans are generally biased towards protecting females."

Yes

"The distribution of preferences and abilities of men and women differ in part due to biological causes. Many of these differences are small and there’s significant overlap between men and women, so you can’t say anything about an individual given these population level distributions."

But you can say enough about a group to make it right enough of the time. Or you know... close enough for government work.

tone : its obviously biased.

jintana · 2017-08-09T19:41:37+00:00

1: agree

2: agree

3: agree

4: agree but we should examine tribalistic assignments

5: agree but history class needs to do better at teaching about it in high school

6: agree as long as it's done with moderation and bridging

7: agree but forcing the issue can only be done so much; not forcing assimilation by other cultures is mandatory

8: unsure if natural or cultural

9: agree but everyone read it carefully

Tone: sounds calm and thoughtful to me. Doesn't evoke anything emotional to me any more than being in a college level course on the topic did, which was to say "I choose to be here, I'm curious, I'm interested in engaging, and let's talk some shit."

buartha · 2017-08-09T20:06:02+00:00

I'm going to rate these as strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree and strongly agree.

"We all have biases and use motivated reasoning to dismiss ideas that run counter to our internal values."

Strongly agree

"I strongly support trying to understand how and why people think the way they do."

Strongly agree

"Being emotionally unengaged helps us better reason about the facts."

Neutral (situationally dependent)

"We should treat people as individuals, not as just another member of their group (tribalism)."

Neutral (situationally dependent)

"Feminism has made great progress in freeing women from the female gender role."

Agree

"Open and honest discussion with those who disagree can highlight our blind spots and help us grow."

Strongly agree

"I strongly believe in gender and racial diversity, and I think we should strive for more."

Agree

"Humans are generally biased towards protecting females."

Disagree

"The distribution of preferences and abilities of men and women differ in part due to biological causes. Many of these differences are small and there’s significant overlap between men and women, so you can’t say anything about an individual given these population level distributions."

Agree

Hellothere_1 · 2017-08-09T20:18:12+00:00

Totally
Yes
For the most part yes. However emotions are often there for a reason. I don't think you should entirely dismiss them but you should be aware of why you feel a certain way and how that might influence your perspective.
Very strong yes
Yes. None of my female friends could be where they are today without feminism. No matter how you feel about the movement there are some undeniable accomplishments.
Otherwise I wouldn't be here
Yes in that we should end discrimination against people who make more diverse choices in life. No in that we should force them to.
Yes. However I am not sure whether this is social or biological. I also think that this phenomenon is a remnant past structures and not something that we should base moral guidelines or laws on.
That's a pretty good summary of my opinion.

Questions are pretty harmless and unagressive.

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Electra_Cute · 2017-08-09T19:01:36+00:00

Yes, yes, yes, sometimes, no, yes, no, no, no

notworthmuch20xx · 2017-08-09T19:03:38+00:00

1 yes

2 meh

3 yes

4 yes

5 maybe

6 sometimes

7 not especially

8 in places

9 mostly right

Tone is calm and kind of boring

IamTheWalkingMenu · 2017-08-09T19:05:59+00:00

I don't know what motivated reasoning is
Not really strongly. I mean maybe if there is something at stake.
That's probably true.
Ya
No. It's made me have to do EVERY role.
Maybe. On a good day.
Depends on what the setting for the gender diversity is. I don't want to be a Navy Seal or forced to join the army or something. Racial diversity is here, or will be soon.
That's probably true.
I don't really understand this statement. I need the iq of 70 version.

Mainly I'd say they have an agenda but aren't aggressive.

DaThrowaway808 · 2017-08-09T19:08:16+00:00

Agree.
Agree.
Agree.
Depends if I'm dealing with them as an individual or as a group.
Recently, disagree.
Agree.
I had 5 women in my engineering classes. I would love more women.
Agree.
Agree.

I'm calm when reading it and it doesn't illicit any type of emotion from me.

fiat_lux_ · 2017-08-09T19:08:50+00:00

For me / for others.

Disagree / Agree
Agree / Disagree
Agree / Disagree
Disagree / Disagree
Agree / Agree
Agree / Disagree
Disagree / Disagree
Agree / Agree
Disagree / Disagree

Hairbrainer · 2017-08-09T19:09:45+00:00

1) Generally, yes

2) Yes

3) Yes

4) Yes

5) No, but it has in terms of women's rights

6) Yes

7) No for gender, yes for racial

8) Usually yes

9) Yes

Tone is neutral, and I'm not sure what your point is going to be, so I'm interested to hear it.

theother-side · 2017-08-09T19:16:54+00:00

Yes.
Yes.
No. We can try to suppress emotions in conversation, but they always surface. You can pretend to be an uber-rational, emotionless turd but it always shows. "Reason is a slave to the passions" -- probably less than 1% of the human population could actually suppress emotions in everyday arguments -- even sociopaths have emotions at times.
Yes. How they put themselves forward, though, is a pretty good way to judge how to treat them. If they self-identify as a group member and not an individual, you're going to have a hard time convincing them of anything that doesn't coincide with group interest.
No.
Yes.
50/50. Only because I've seen the same liberals I used to campaign with arguing for self-segregating communities. I used to believe strongly in gender/racial diversity (not quotas), but I think human nature is pretty ingrained in tribalism.
Yes.
Yes.

snailypop · 2017-08-09T19:20:56+00:00

We all have biases and use motivated reasoning to dismiss ideas that run counter to our internal values.".

Strongly agree.

"I strongly support trying to understand how and why people think the way they do.".

Agree.

"Being emotionally unengaged helps us better reason about the facts.".

Agree.

"We should treat people as individuals, not as just another member of their group (tribalism).".

Conditional. It depends on the purpose and the sample size.

"Feminism has made great progress in freeing women from the female gender role.".

I don't know enough about history to say.

"Open and honest discussion with those who disagree can highlight our blind spots and help us grow.".

Strongly agree.

"I strongly believe in gender and racial diversity, and I think we should strive for more.".

No opinion.

"Humans are generally biased towards protecting females.".

The statement is too simplistic. Under certain circumstances I would agree.

"The distribution of preferences and abilities of men and women differ in part due to biological causes.

Agree.

Many of these differences are small and there’s significant overlap between men and women, so you can’t say anything about an individual given these population level distributions.".

Depends on the difference in question and the situation. Some differences have a large amount of variance, and some do not. We can make reasonable guesses about individuals based on population averages.

What do you think about the tone of these questions? Is it calm or aggressive?

I didn't notice any tone.

wtknight · 2017-08-09T19:43:46+00:00

Disagree, as I wouldn't say "dismiss," but we're more likely to come up with reasoning that refutes ideas that run counter to our internal values than to come up with reasoning that refutes ideas that our consistent with them.
Agree
Disagree. I don't think being emotionally engaged or unengaged correlates with one being able to use reason.
Agree
Agree
Agree, as I think the ability to do this shows maturity. I don't think most people change their minds about things except through life experience, though.
Agree
Agree. They are the ones that bear and have traditionally done the majority of the raising of children so I think this has been natural throughout human history in order to protect the survival of our species.
Agree

I don't really have a strong opinion about the tone of the questions, so I suppose the tone seems fairly neutral to me.

InformalCriticism · 2017-08-09T20:17:25+00:00

I'd say yes, but not all the time.
Yes.
Ya.
I don't think this is always useful. If you can identify people advocating an own-group preference, then the shoe fits. Marxist ideology is back in vogue, and those people ought to be treated as part of a collective rather than an individual.
It has allowed women to suffer more like men, but in general it has helped women explore opportunities outside what men like.
Yeah.
No. Diversity is fine, but it's not inherently good or bad, and the aggressive and relentless enforcement of it causes harm.
For the most part, civilizations have thrived on that value.
No, because the "significant overlap" between genders is an exception, not the rule. You can make generalizations about gender, and proof positive of this is what people find funny in comedy. Take Sweden for example. They have the most equal society between the sexes the world has seen, but that has magnified the differences between men and women - essentially the closer to equality you get, the more obvious the differences between men and women become.

The tone of your questions was not neutral or unbiased, if that makes sense.

Lost_and_Faded · 2017-08-09T20:20:40+00:00

"We all have biases and use motivated reasoning to dismiss ideas that run counter to our internal values."

Agreed, not much to say here

"I strongly support trying to understand how and why people think the way they do."

Yes

"Being emotionally unengaged helps us better reason about the facts."

Unless you're doing a debate for a school project or something, I don't understand how you can argue about something while being emotionless about it's subject matter. What impulse is there to argue about it in the first place?

Can it help you understand the facts better though? I guess so, yeah. Being emotionally uninvested might allow you to reconsider your assumptions better. Or not, who knows.

"We should treat people as individuals, not as just another member of their group (tribalism)."

I don't put too much stock in racial, ethnic or economic classes when it comes to determining an individual's abilities, motivations and so on... But I do think gender is really important.

So my answer would be yes, in general. Depends on the context though. I would treat a person who doesn't speak English differently than an Anglophone for example. By the simple act of not trying to communicate in English with them.

"Feminism has made great progress in freeing women from the female gender role."

Absolutely. I think one of the biggest problems people have with feminism is their blind spot regarding men, not women.

They publicly denounce men who adhere to traditional male roles while simultaneously rejecting those men as romantic pursuits if they do.

"I strongly believe in gender and racial diversity, and I think we should strive for more."

In terms of say, a company that resides in a very diverse area, then sure. Should a non-diverse are be made diverse as a general goal? No, I don't see the reason for that. Nothing wrong with that if it's an incidental consequence.

I think people on both the right and left greatly overestimate the impact that diversity has on things.

"Open and honest discussion with those who disagree can highlight our blind spots and help us grow."

Agreed.

"Humans are generally biased towards protecting females."

I don't think this is true. Most of human history has had societies valuing the lives of men much more than women. I don't think the fact that men get sent to war is indicative of the opposite, I think that's just because men are better at war.

"The distribution of preferences and abilities of men and women differ in part due to biological causes. Many of these differences are small and there’s significant overlap between men and women, so you can’t say anything about an individual given these population level distributions."

I don't know what's biological and what's societal, but it's important that it's there and knowledge of it is necessary to live your life. Especially for a successful dating life.

ThatGreekLady · 2017-08-09T20:22:34+00:00

1) Yes

2)Yes

3)Depends.

4) Mostly agree.

5) Technically yes

6) Yes

7) What do you mean with that?

8) Mostly agree

9) Mostly agree.

Cho_Assmilk · 2017-08-09T20:25:52+00:00

"We all have biases and use motivated reasoning to dismiss ideas that run counter to our internal values."

To an extent

"I strongly support trying to understand how and why people think the way they do."

Don't care enough about other people. Unless the actions directly affect me

"Being emotionally unengaged helps us better reason about the facts."

Absolutely

"We should treat people as individuals, not as just another member of their group (tribalism)."

Yep

"Feminism has made great progress in freeing women from the female gender role."

Yes but with varying results ranging from excellent to terrible

"Open and honest discussion with those who disagree can highlight our blind spots and help us grow."

Good luck finding people who can do that

"I strongly believe in gender and racial diversity, and I think we should strive for more."

Gender diversity is natural. All creatures have it. Racial difference are unnatural and only exist because people of all races work very hard to preserve them

"Humans are generally biased towards protecting females."

They we're. Thanks to modern 3rd wave feminism, this is observed a lot less

"The distribution of preferences and abilities of men and women differ in part due to biological causes. Many of these differences are small and there’s significant overlap between men and women, so you can’t say anything about an individual given these population level distributions."

On non reproductive issues, minus physical strength, yes. With relationships, the differences are huge.

What do you think about the tone of these questions? Is it calm or aggressive? Thoughtful or reactionary?

Random. Calm and thoughtful I suppose though.

aznphenix · 2017-08-09T21:21:06+00:00

Agree
Agree
Neutral (sometimes if you're emotionally invested, having your emotions go the other way will open you to realizing some facts. ex. gay marriage)
Neutral (there are situations where snap judgements need to be made, where those stereotypes might generally be applied correctly)
Agree
Agree
Neutral (Diversity of experience/thoughts is what helps, and race/gender can be a proxy for that, but sometimes no)
Agree
Neutral (Can't definitely say anything about an individual, but you can guess that they are more likely to be x, y, or z).

SeemedGood · 2017-08-09T21:35:58+00:00

Yes. Thus the importance of sound logic.
Yes.
Not necessarily. Emotional disengagement can also be used to promote false-rationalization. (Again, thus the importance of sound logical structure).
Individuals should treat people as individuals, but we should also be cognizant of sets of behaviors that individuals share because they belong to differentiated groups. The idea that sets of individuals do not share behaviors runs counter to our scientific understanding of living beings.
No, feminism has inflicted significant harm to women as it is based in self-hatred. Much of what women eschew as "gender role" is vital to their potential to develop into strong, healthy, self-assured, introspective, and spiritually aware women.
Yes, if the recipient of criticism adheres to sound logic in any discussion and becomes self-critical where logic fails them.
If diversity is truly a valued good, then we don't have to "strive for it." People will naturally choose it in proportion to their value of it. Thus, no "striving" is necessary in a free market.
Yes and women are slow to eschew the benefit of that.
This is just patently false (see the distribution of production/consumption and labor specialization) - in a free market the distribution will tend towards that which is most efficient, and there's nothing wrong with that.

The tone is aggressively biased and not particularly well considered.

max_peenor · 2017-08-09T21:42:40+00:00

"We all have biases and use motivated reasoning to dismiss ideas that run counter to our internal values."

Humans are fantastic pattern recognition machines. Biases help us shortcut our processing, since there simply is not enough time in the day deeply understand everything we encounter. While I think sometimes it is you say, far more often it is the other way around--we use reasoning to override our biases. If we didn't, we would never learn anything.

Note that even computers do this for the same reason: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heuristic. We just don't have enough processing power.

"I strongly support trying to understand how and why people think the way they do."

Absolutely.

"Being emotionally unengaged helps us better reason about the facts."

Generally, but it might also help you miss out on the nuances of a situation. Who was it? The Vedics? Every decision they made sober they would then make again drunk--if it was the same decision, they would do it. It's ok to take a couple shots of emotion from time to time.

"We should treat people as individuals, not as just another member of their group (tribalism)."

Yeah, but there are seven billion of us. Who has time to do that for everyone? No one. Sorry. It's just a practicality of life.

"Feminism has made great progress in freeing women from the female gender role."

Sure, ti has worked to free them from the role, but it has made their position in society dramatically worse. Most first generation feminists would agree. For a woman, her advantage is being a woman. Why would they throw that away in exchange for trying to be something they aren't good at--a man?

"Open and honest discussion with those who disagree can highlight our blind spots and help us grow."

Yes, which is why most of our universities are completely fucking worthless now.

"I strongly believe in gender and racial diversity, and I think we should strive for more."

I think those of both genders and all races should strive to do more.

"Humans are generally biased towards protecting females."

Of course. It promotes the survival of the species.

"The distribution of preferences and abilities of men and women differ in part due to biological causes. Many of these differences are small and there’s significant overlap between men and women,"

Absolutely.

"so you can’t say anything about an individual given these population level distributions."

You can make guesses though. It takes us back to bias. No one has time to judge every individual. In some cases, we do, such as during interviews (at least I do), but the vast majority of people will not get this benefit from you. As such, we cannot build a society on the promise to evaluate ever individual. It just won't function. This is why we have gender roles in the first place. They were organic and societies that embraced them succeeded.

What do you think about the tone of these questions?

You're fine. Go with it.

Bottom0ftheBarrel · 2017-08-09T21:42:58+00:00

Most people do. I don't on account of being an enlightened black pill swallower.
Agreed.
Disagree. There is no such thing as emotional unengagement. The best you can do is be aware of your emotions so you can better understand why you think what you think. The people who think they're not emotionally engaged but are objective have their heads furthest up their asses and don't even know it.
Agree.
Agree.
Most times it can.
How can one not believe in racial diversity? If you mean believe it's good then yes, I think racial and gender diversity is good. In general at least.
Yes, that's true. That doesn't mean women always have it good, however. Protection can also be oppression.
Agree.

I have no real opinion on the tone. It's neutral I guess.

thenoorys · 2017-08-09T22:08:53+00:00

Disagree with all.

The tone is cordial and I'm skeptical of anyone who doesn't cuss to get a point across

KerPop42 · 2017-08-09T22:31:58+00:00

Calm and thoughtful, overall. There are people who design survey questions professionally, though. Those guidelines might help.

Pope_Lucious · 2017-08-10T00:02:52+00:00

Agree on all but 7. Merit-based selection should not be compromised by diversity mandates.

andrewisgood · 2017-08-10T01:52:46+00:00

The issue with the questions is the agree/disagree thing. Let's go through them.

I agree with that, generally speaking, but that doesn't take into account that people can and do change their minds and can be reasoned to do so. It's important to recognize your own bias, and that way, maybe you can try to avoid it or look differently at a topic.
Agree with this 100%. Even if they're wrong, it's an easier past to help trying to prove why they're wrong.
Disagree. Humans are emotional creatures, so it's tough to take that point away. It's like with a doctor and bedside manner. You can't be an emotional wreck when saying someone is going to die, but you also can't be a cold, callous monster either.
Agree. I try to do that anyway.
Agree, especially when you actually read into things.
Depends, and here's another issue with the agree/disagree idea. I am for this, but sometimes people are dishonest people and don't want open and honest discussion. They're just Milo Yiannopolus.
Agree. Different perspectives are great.
I tend to agree. I've mentioned before that I really hate the whole evo psych deal of, well, in the cave man days, blah blah blah, because we don't live in those days anymore. We live in 2017. So I think it can come with an issue of benevolent sexism where on one hand, you may "protect" women, but you also might not take them seriously.
I don't know...? Again, it goes back to my previous point of, we live in 2017 now. I would lean on saying you can't say anything about an individual, or at least it's relatively hard anyway.

pinkgoldrose · 2017-08-10T03:13:44+00:00

I don't understand this statement. Are values biases? Like if you're against marriage and you defend your position, is it a "bias" against marriage? Some things are up to values.
Agree.
Agree. But sometimes we discuss topics that are about moral jugements, opinions, or things that hard to prove. Like if you wonder what food is bad for you, there are a ton of studies with different findings.
Agree.
Agree.
Agree. But not all who disagree have insightful things to say. You'll learn more from an expert who disagrees than from a layman.
Agree.
No.
Agree. This statement has two parts, you should separate them. Someone could agree there are biological causes, but not that the overlap is significant, or vice-versa.

In some of your statements, you seem to have a specific context in mind without specifying the context. Were you mostly thinking about sex differences when writing 1,2,3,4,6?

GoldPilot · 2017-08-10T04:22:08+00:00

"We all have biases and use motivated reasoning to dismiss ideas that run counter to our internal values."

Agree. We all justify the things we say or do somehow.

"I strongly support trying to understand how and why people think the way they do."

Mostly agree. If I can sympathize with someone or understand their mindset, I'll at least try. But sometimes I just don't care why someone said or did something because it was so reprehensible that there's no excuse I'll accept. Like anything else, it depends.

"Being emotionally unengaged helps us better reason about the facts."

Sometimes. Feelings and passion are there for a reason; some things in life warrant disgust or urgency.

"We should treat people as individuals, not as just another member of their group (tribalism)."

Agree.

"Feminism has made great progress in freeing women from the female gender role."

Agree.

"Open and honest discussion with those who disagree can highlight our blind spots and help us grow."

Agree. When common ground can be reached and good faith can be ensured, honest discussion is always the best option.

"I strongly believe in gender and racial diversity, and I think we should strive for more."

Agree. It makes us stronger.

"Humans are generally biased towards protecting females."

Agree.

"The distribution of preferences and abilities of men and women differ in part due to biological causes. Many of these differences are small and there’s significant overlap between men and women, so you can’t say anything about an individual given these population level distributions."

Agree.

What do you think about the tone of these questions? Is it calm or aggressive? Thoughtful or reactionary?

They're fine, I guess.

It brings to mind the phrase "It's quiet... Too quiet." Questions like these always make me think that there's some sorta plot to catch me offguard.

Sniveling_Cur · 2017-08-10T08:49:03+00:00

Yes
Yes
Yes
Depends, leaning No
Feminism is an entirely reactionary movement; it never achieved anything
Hahaha fat chance, see 1
Wut?
Yes
No, also way to put two different viewpoints in one question one you twerp

What do you think about the tone of these questions? Is it calm or aggressive? Thoughtful or reactionary?

If you posted this on /r/askreddit you'd be sent off to /r/iamverysmart in five comments

rulenumber303 · 2017-08-10T09:18:12+00:00

1.Yes everyone does that... some of the time.

2.Yes everyone should do that... some of the time.

3.Eh. You've got to disengage your emotions in order to get a specific sort of view of the situation that is very useful but on the other hand if you leave your emotions disengaged all the time what happens is emotions crawl back in and take over but you don't realise they are emotions. Never trust someone who says they look at situations only logically and never emotionally, they are lying not only to you but to themselves, and they are probably someone you don't want in your life.

4.Sometimes people are acting as and for themselves sometimes as a member of a group, life is complicated.

5.Absolutely.

6.Be too open and you'll fall for anything, be too honest and they'll want to kill you. I mean openess and honesty is good in some ways but it isn't the be-all and end all.

7.Well I believe it exists so I guess I believe in it. Getting more or less of it in general is kind of a neutral idea to me. There are specific situations though that would show more diversity if humans weren't such dicks to each other. Diversity tends to be the canary in the coalmine.

8.Biases are more complicated than that,they tend to be paired sets of good and bad perceptions and even what seems like positive stereotypes and biases can in their own way be harmful.

9.It isn't that you can't say anything... obviously you can say that a woman is more likely to be certain things and a man is more likely to be certain other things. The point is that in most situations you shouldn't define individuals in detail just according to their gender because that just screws too many people over when you start banning men from knitting classes and telling women they don't want to run marathons or take up glass blowing.

I think your questions possibly assume too much about what the people you are asking the questions of already believe or what you would have them believe.

ta1901 · 2017-08-10T13:20:30+00:00

Your tone sounds calm and thoughtful.

"We all have biases and use motivated reasoning to dismiss ideas that run counter to our internal values."

Most people have bias, some have less bias. My experience comes from 30 years of dealing with people. And I try to get rid of any bias I might have. But in the end, my opinion is still based on my experience, but also the experience of others I have talked to.

"I strongly support trying to understand how and why people think the way they do."

Yes.

"Being emotionally unengaged helps us better reason about the facts."

In some cases, yes.

"We should treat people as individuals, not as just another member of their group (tribalism)."

In general, yes.

"Feminism has made great progress in freeing women from the female gender role."

In the 1970s, yes.

"Open and honest discussion with those who disagree can highlight our blind spots and help us grow."

Yes.

"I strongly believe in gender and racial diversity, and I think we should strive for more."

No. Because "gender diversity" means hiring people based on their gender, not their merits, which is bigotry and sexism. "Equal opportunity" is not the same as "equal outcomes". Some people support the former, some the latter.

These days "racial diversity" now means hating white people, and giving special preferential treatment to non-whites, which is racist, so I don't support that. Giving people special treatment based on their skin color is racist.

Just because it's trendy to do X doesn't make it right.

"Humans are generally biased towards protecting females."

Yes. There is probably some ingrained thing related to this.

"The distribution of preferences and abilities of men and women differ in part due to biological causes. Many of these differences are small and there’s significant overlap between men and women, so you can’t say anything about an individual given these population level distributions."

Agree. I can't say much about an individual I don't know, so I try to be clear that I'm talking about my short, 30 years of experience, with X, and that I'm talking about a group average.

Feyra · 2017-08-10T16:52:09+00:00

Agree.
Agree.
Agree.
Agree.
Disagree. While I believe feminism has had an impact, it's unfair to give the movement all credit for progress.
Agree.
Disagree. This conflicts with point 4.
Agree.
Somewhat agree, but there are multiple parts to the statement that should be broken down if you're looking for an "agree/disagree" answer.

The tone seems calm. 4 and 7 feel like a gotcha, and 9 could be argued as a trick question by lumping many concepts together without justifying their relevance.

SilentLurker666 · 2017-08-11T00:46:44+00:00

'1."We all have biases and use motivated reasoning to dismiss ideas that run counter to our internal values."

It's call emotional bias and everyone has them. Agree

'2. "I strongly support trying to understand how and why people think the way they do."

It's none of my business to understand how and why people think the way they do, so Disagree.

'3. "Being emotionally unengaged helps us better reason about the facts."

It's call stoicism. Agree.

'4. "We should treat people as individuals, not as just another member of their group (tribalism)."

Impossible and contradictory. Individuals are defined by their identity and characteristics, which include what group they belong to. This line of thinking is what's causing problems on the left, for example how they preach equality, but continue to try to give privileges and special treatment to certain groups.

'5."Feminism has made great progress in freeing women from the female gender role."

Out of the fire, into the frying pan. It lead today's women into contorting themselves to try to fit into a very ill-defined and contradictory role of being "as capable as a man" but still retaining the privilege of a women.

'6. "Open and honest discussion with those who disagree can highlight our blind spots and help us grow."

Only for those who are open to changing their views.

'7."I strongly believe in gender and racial diversity, and I think we should strive for more."

What's "More"? More of berkeley's and Evergreen U? More racial quotas and BLM? Or just more empty slogans and laws about getting prosecuted for not using proper pronouns for transgender people?

http://nationalpost.com/opinion/bruce-pardy-meet-the-new-human-rights-where-you-are-forced-by-law-to-use-reasonable-pronouns-like-ze-and-zer/wcm/e62fa6c4-4773-48a6-b5eb-65c1bf95bba8

'8. "Humans are generally biased towards protecting females."

I see a growing trend of that disappearing due to feminism and their push toward equality.

'9. "The distribution of preferences and abilities of men and women differ in part due to biological causes. Many of these differences are small and there’s significant overlap between men and women, so you can’t say anything about an individual given these population level distributions."

define, "small" for example "himps and bonobos in particular take pride of place as our nearest living relatives, sharing approximately 99 percent of our DNA, with gorillas trailing at 98 percent."

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/tiny-genetic-differences-between-humans-and-other-primates-pervade-the-genome/

Actually I'm not even sure what you are trying to get at here. At least the distribution for human characteristics are very skewed... think of beauty standards, intelligence (mesna), and wealth.

What do you think about the tone of these questions? Is it calm or aggressive? Thoughtful or reactionary?

They aren't too much of a misleading question as long as it's not a simple yes/no survey. The last question is too open ended.

boundarychimps · 2017-08-13T19:10:45+00:00

"We all have biases and use motivated reasoning to dismiss ideas that run counter to our internal values."

Those are unrelated, because "biases" and "internal values" are not the same thing.

Biases would the the thing that bayesians call "priors"; things you assume about people until you know them well enough to know better. Like how I'm tall, so new people I meet often ask if I play basketball. It's kinda obvious that everyone will have some of these.

"Internal values" would be things like "all men(*) are created equal", "life begins at conception [or birth]", "everyone should be given the same opportunities", "every group should have the same outcomes", etc. I seem to recall it being fairly well established that people do engage in motivated reasoning about these sorts of things.

"I strongly support trying to understand how and why people think the way they do."

Yes, theory of mind is seriously important.

"Being emotionally unengaged helps us better reason about the facts."

Yep. They're separate branches of the ethos / pathos / logos trifecta.

"We should treat people as individuals, not as just another member of their group (tribalism)."

Yes. But that's the ideal case, and may not always be feasible because of how much more effort it takes.

"Feminism has made great progress in freeing women from the female gender role."

Huh? "The female gender role" is not some fixed thing that exists independently of actual women.

"Open and honest discussion with those who disagree can highlight our blind spots and help us grow."

Yep.

"I strongly believe in gender and racial diversity, and I think we should strive for more."

Pigeon-holing people based on race, gender, religion, or basically anything really is bad (equal opportunity as an internal value). Trying to make the end result come out "right" (equality of outcome) is a fool's errand.

But, there can be odd effects when a group is highly lopsided. Ordinary human behavior that works fine if a group is 100% male or 100% female or about 50/50, can turn harmful if the ratio is 90/10 or 80/20. For examples, see how extraordinarily picky the military and the tech industry have to be about gender relations.

"Humans are generally biased towards protecting females."

And children.

"The distribution of preferences and abilities of men and women differ in part due to biological causes. Many of these differences are small and there’s significant overlap between men and women, so you can’t say anything about an individual given these population level distributions."

Yes, and yes. Both consistently backed up by science.

Title	A short personal opinion survey
Author	disposable_pants
Upvotes	7
Comments	92
Date	August 9, 2017 6:59 PM UTC (9 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/PurplePillDebate
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/PurplePillDebate/comments/6snobs/a_short_personal_opinion_survey/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/PurplePillDebate/a-short-personal-opinion-survey.266529 https://theredarchive.com/post/266529

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