posted on January 29, 2019 03:44 PM by
u/Hailanathema
45
u/CedarHorns58 pointsat 1548780020.000000
I know from my network that Chinese students are frequently liars and
cheats > Okay so this is clearly racist. You are applying statistical
claims about populations to individuals on the basis of their national
origin. >> Isn’t that Bayesian?
When I first found SSC, LessWrong, etc I was extremely confused by
how everyone seemed obsessed with Bayes’ theorem. Then I saw an exchange
like this and realized it’s so popular because they can use it as a
shorthand for “My hatred of women/minorities is mathematically
justified.” Of course in typical fashion they’re completely butchering
101-level math, but it’s nice to now know to expect casual bigotry as
soon as I see the word “Bayesian” on one of these forums.
You don't even need Bayes for that, they just attached it to the concept of "rational discrimination." It's already how insurance companies and redlining work.
Over and over again, they say “I’m not racist! I’m only interested in
race and IQ for sociological reasons! Acknowledging differences between
groups doesn’t mean applying those judgements to every individual within
the group!”
Oops, turns out you’re doing exactly that. Who could have
guessed?
I particularly love the comment stating that it’s only a statement
about Chinese students, not Chinese people, therefore it’s not racist.
Who do you think takes all the tests in the world? Students.
If my priors are 100% racist, further evidence will only solidify my racism. It's not me doing this, it's ~~Reverend~~ Revenant Thomas Bayes and I am in his thrall.
Geez, apparently in their world being multilingual isn’t a thing. Do
they not realize that the majority of people around the world (yes even
in Europe) need to know more than one language for educational or
occupational reasons? They really need to get out more.
Anglophone countries are weirdly hard on others trying to speak their language ("He's got such a thick accent I could hardly understand him!") whereas other countries folks tend to get super exited when Anglophone folks take 10 seconds to learn how to say "hello" and "thank you" in their languages haha
This is so fucking funny!!! Oh my God. They’re like, relitigating the
legitimacy of stereotypes. “Isn’t that Bayesian?” Imagine being part of
a group where you can say this without being laughed out of the sub and
still have a collective self-image of rational, detached observers of
objective reality
Meh, don’t know if this is really sneer-worthy. Chinese students
are often terrible at English, and their reputation for
cheating (deserved or not) is a pretty established trope. This is just
boring everyday stereotype, expressed in a very crass way but still a
far cry from the bizarre fringe statements that usually make it
here.
I know, right? Perhaps my favourite sneer of all time is the thread where some SSCers made "men are better drivers" their hill to die on, and when someone countered with statistics saying women actually drive better in any measurable way, they just kept moving the goalposts of what being a "good driver" means. What made that thread so great was that, after the initial statistical arguments, eventually *everyone* was arguing from hunches, anecdotes and stereotypes -- in a community specifically dedicated to doing better than that!
>they just kept moving the goalposts of what being a "good driver" means. What made that thread so great was that, after the initial statistical arguments, eventually everyone was arguing from hunches, anecdotes and stereotypes
"LOL OH YOU! THE DATA DOESN'T REFLECT HOW MANY MEN, LIKE TO SPICE UP THEIR DAILY COMMUTES BY DRIVING LIKE A JASON STATHAM CHARACTER AND THEREFORE THOSE 'ACCIDENT' DATAPOINTS ARE ACTUALLY DEMONSTRATIONS OF ADEPT STUNT DRIVING!"
If anyone's interested the Sneerclub thread is [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/SneerClub/comments/a40xpc/ssc_insists_ackshually_men_are_better_drivers/) and the driving thread starts [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/slatestarcodex/comments/a2lipn/culture_war_roundup_for_the_week_of_december_03/eb9ux2r/).
Funny how all good science is supposed to be "novel" or "counterintuitive," but the HBDers only seem to "discover" whatever the "intuitive" stereotype already is.
>This is just boring everyday stereotype, expressed in a very crass way
A crass way wouldn't attempt to rationalize the lazy, and yes, discriminatory, stereotype as those comments attempt. The judgment is crass, and the sneer is at the attempt to disguise that fact.
But good luck with the sneer-policing.
When I first found SSC, LessWrong, etc I was extremely confused by how everyone seemed obsessed with Bayes’ theorem. Then I saw an exchange like this and realized it’s so popular because they can use it as a shorthand for “My hatred of women/minorities is mathematically justified.” Of course in typical fashion they’re completely butchering 101-level math, but it’s nice to now know to expect casual bigotry as soon as I see the word “Bayesian” on one of these forums.
The mask slips.
Over and over again, they say “I’m not racist! I’m only interested in race and IQ for sociological reasons! Acknowledging differences between groups doesn’t mean applying those judgements to every individual within the group!”
Oops, turns out you’re doing exactly that. Who could have guessed?
I particularly love the comment stating that it’s only a statement about Chinese students, not Chinese people, therefore it’s not racist. Who do you think takes all the tests in the world? Students.
in comes a bunch of “but ackchyually” replies
I think someone doesn’t quite get what “Bayesian” is doing here.
Geez, apparently in their world being multilingual isn’t a thing. Do they not realize that the majority of people around the world (yes even in Europe) need to know more than one language for educational or occupational reasons? They really need to get out more.
[deleted]
This is so fucking funny!!! Oh my God. They’re like, relitigating the legitimacy of stereotypes. “Isn’t that Bayesian?” Imagine being part of a group where you can say this without being laughed out of the sub and still have a collective self-image of rational, detached observers of objective reality
Bayes Theorem was a mistake
Kill the
IndianChinese, save the child.Meh, don’t know if this is really sneer-worthy. Chinese students are often terrible at English, and their reputation for cheating (deserved or not) is a pretty established trope. This is just boring everyday stereotype, expressed in a very crass way but still a far cry from the bizarre fringe statements that usually make it here.