I'm not correcting the guy's grammar for god's sake. I'm pointing out a subtle but serious prejudice and discrimination that is pervasive in our industry. But go on and cover your ears and pretend it's not happening
Indeed, but the goal of HN is to be interesting, and every thread turning into anger about the same four or five things is not interesting. I'm sure that wasn't your intent, but it's the default trend regardless of intent, so there needs to be a countervailing factor. Such discussions are predictable and achieve little except to get participants' juices flowing.
Both your comment to the GP and your comment here make uncharitable assumptions that convert immediately into anger. Please don't do that when posting to HN. It corrodes the civil discourse that we're trying for.
Yeah, I think your criticism is appropriate and hardly "off-topic" when it's a direct reply to a comment. The replies to your post did degenerate into a bit of a shit show, but that's not your fault.
Wait... if we select a 25 y.o. engineer over a 85 y.o. engineer it means ageism? We must pretend that cognitive functions doesn't decline with age? (Which has been completely proven as any biologist can tell you)
Yeah and white people are worse than asians at math and blacks are more likely to rob your store
The fact that there are still people that don't understand discrimination in this day and age is infuriating. If you think your interview candidate is potentially senile then you should screen for senility and not lump people based on statistical averages for whatever pigeon holes your constructed for them. People need a chance to surpass whatever stereotypes you hold even if they're based on statistically facts.
Not only is it down right illegal, it what perpetuates discrimination and causes so many of our social problems
PS: I'm sorry this is off topic, but this is a very important issue - and simplistic narrow minded thinking like this needs to be pointed out for the common good
No. Please no. It would be like screening 70 year old women for stripper roles. Yeah, maybe one of them is attractive to mass public, but still it doesn't make any sense, because the costs of screening all candidates is much higher than preselection. And if you have a problem with that then capitalism is your enemy, not "ageism".
but still it doesn't make any sense, because the costs of screening all candidates is much higher than preselection
The cost of screening 70 year old stripper candidates depends on how many such candidates their are to begin with. I doubt there are many, because the candidates select themselves out.
I really want to see a 85 year old trying to sue for being "discriminated" for a stripper role. The amusing part would be the tumblr rage over "supporting" the stripper.
Can you show any links to reliable research ahowing cognitive decline is inevitable in 70 year olds? Or is that just something you know and think is obvious?
I can't believe I'm being down voted for this. Is like when someone says males have naturally more upper body strength and then some feminists get mad, even when is written in a biology study about musculature.
This obsession for political correctness is corrupting scientific knowledge and research.
You're being downvoted because you're hyperfocusing on one dimension of people.
That 25 year old will expend many neurons and lots of that fresh cognitive capability on waste due to inexperience. Have you ever met a practicing 70-year old engineer? That perspective and experience has an outsized impact.
The male vs female upper body strength thing is totally different. For one, it's measurable. Second, it's not a job attribute that is offset by expertise -- a firefighter has to be able to carry an average sized person or a roll of hose. 30 years of hose carrying doesn't make it lighter. Usually, fire departments recognize this by allowing fire fighters to retire starting at the 20 year mark.
I know what you are trying to say, but I have known engineers in their 70s who have a really hard time grasping new concepts, we should be good with each other and nice with each other, but sometimes that is not in line with how the market/capitalism works. I don't think I was completely right but I don't think neither are you.
Brain plasticity is a real thing, and it goes away really quickly, is depressing but is a reality, I'm 27 but I already feel my reflexes are a bit worse than when I was 24, here is a nice video that gives some perspective about the issue, you may have seen it before (reverse bicycle): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFzDaBzBlL0
It's easy to see why you are being downvoted. You precisely expressed the essence of discrimination and then defended it exactly the same way people always justify not hiring _____ race/class/gender/etc.
Diversity requires you change how you think about talent and work. Change from 80lb containers to 30lb containers and then you can hire people with less upper body strength while reducing injuries.
I know what you are trying to say, but I have known engineers in their 70s who have a really hard time grasping new concepts, and your splitting weight analogy doesn't cover such things, you can't "divide a concept".
Yeah, we should be good with each other and nice with each other, but sometimes that is not in line with how the market/capitalism works. I don't think I was completely right but I don't think neither are you.
Brain plasticity is a real thing, and it goes away really quickly, is depressing but is a reality, I'm 27 but I already feel my reflexes are a bit worse than when I was 24, here is a nice video that gives some perspective about the issue, you may have seen it before (reverse bicycle): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFzDaBzBlL0
Yeah but why would I want to hire some inexperienced 25 year old that's just going to come in hung over from being drunk all the time and then raise my insurance costs due to venerial diseases, until I ultimately have to fire him for either incompetence or HR violations?
