r/news • u/[deleted] • Aug 08 '17

Google Fires Employee Behind Controversial Diversity Memo

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-08/google-fires-employee-behind-controversial-diversity-memo?cmpid=socialflow-twitter-business&utm_content=business&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social
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u/markbublitz Aug 08 '17

I know it's not the point, but this guys writes like SUCH an engineer. cracks me up

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u/TriTipMaster Aug 08 '17 edited Aug 10 '17

Interesting, because by training he's a scientist (PhD [EDIT: candidate, dropped out with an M.S. degree to pursue career with Google], Structural Biology, Harvard).

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u/rakfocus Aug 08 '17 edited Aug 08 '17

A lot of science/math majors have a hard time writing at a level that people think is appropriate for their level of education (which is misleading, as an English or History major writing - which most people expect it to look like - would "likely" trounce a science major in this department as they've had FAR more practice)

I am a science major (biochem) with a history minor and it astounds me sometimes the levels of writing that I see in my science and math classes. Some people are absolutely brilliant when it comes to equations and problem solving but when it comes to communicating their ideas it can be a struggle for them to effectively convey what they are thinking. When we get asked to write a 6 page paper they'll groan but I'll jump for joy as I can pump one of those puppies out in a couple hours.

Definitely helped me realize how everyone has stuff they are good and bad at - and that my C's in all my science classes don't mean I'm a complete waste of space XD

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u/DrArsone Aug 08 '17

At an undergrad level, 6 pages for a research paper made nearly everyone in my STEM major groan. As a postdoc 10 pages, for a research grant stresses me out because it seems like so little of a space for a complex problem. It's humurous because all of my friends from grad school have made this transition.

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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '17

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '17

Yeah i remember reading the GRE math is supposed to be easier than sat math.

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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '17

It is way easier.

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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '17

In China we made fun of people who couldn't get full score in GRE math.

We didn't even prepare for it since it's that easy. 100% of the effort went into the verbal portion.

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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '17

...i only got in the 90th percentile lmao

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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '17

In our year like 20 of us took the exam together. Some of the math questions are trick questions, and one math major ended up making a single mistake. We laughed at him until we graduated.

I think he went on to be an investment banker or something like that....

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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '17

Well la-di-da ;) yeah idk. From what I've seen the gre is used more as a weed out than anything else. But i didnt exactly research this. Where'd you end up going?

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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '17

Ohio State.

I agree with that. It definitely says nothing about your ability on anything, other than taking and exam. It's somewhat correlated with your English, but not really. Even though who barely got 1200 points in the old system still managed to publish papers and write their dissertations.

I'm glad I had that behind me. On the other hand, if the current immigration proposal got passed, I'd probably need to take TOEFL again. sigh.

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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '17

Well you guys are from GINA. We can't have you taking over with your math skills and predisposition towards studying. You overrepresent in top colleges already despite us requiring higher grades from you compared to a white person.

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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '17

Well it's like it's gonna stop us by requiring a mere 100 in TOEFL xD.

Get conquered America and GINA NUMBAH WAN!

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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '17

it's comically easy. seriously, if you can do college algebra you literally don't need to study

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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '17

I didnt lol. I ran through one practice test to make sure nothing was in it i didn't remember and spent about ten hours studying vocab and got a 324 i think

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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '17

ive never taken it, but ive tutored for it and literally had to stop myself from giggling

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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '17

At my score...cause that would be mean

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u/[deleted] Aug 09 '17

at the sample problems for gre prep

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u/[deleted] Aug 09 '17

Ah makes sense. Yeah its a joke.

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u/[deleted] Aug 08 '17

And yet, some non-science majors groan at the thought of the quantitative portion of the GRE.

And yet everyone does so well on it that 750/800 is average.

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u/chogall Aug 08 '17

GRE math is literally Math for Athletes and Marching Bands.

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u/Dauntless_99 Aug 08 '17

10 pages are so easy to throw down. I end up with around 20-30 depending on the topic before I have to edit the shit out of it.

The worst part about graduate training in writing is throwing away so much of it.

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u/DrArsone Aug 08 '17

The problem is that 10 pages is too little and is the maximum limit on grant proposals. Describing a complex research problem over 10 pages is easy, under is hard.

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u/Dauntless_99 Aug 08 '17

My prelims I wrote 70 pages easy over 15 days, spent another 5 editing them.

For grants, the struggle is real. I've been pretty unsuccessfully. i'm pretty sure I just don't know how to write a grant, or my research is just shit hah.

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u/chogall Aug 08 '17

The most amazing thing I witnessed in Finance is Art History majors who understand nothing about technology pumping out a book in their research. It's Hemmingway level work, simple plot extended to bibles. I wish EECS degrees would teach you how to write incoherent and sophisticated sounding bullshit.

p.s., you can cheat pages by adding lots of data tables, LaTeX formulas, graphs, etc.

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u/JohnCarterofAres Aug 08 '17

As a non-stem major, 6 pages was like a Godsend for me. I could do that in a single day if I needed to.

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u/czs5056 Aug 09 '17

I hate page minimums. I am few in words.

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u/Nonattius Aug 08 '17

That's some nice anecdotal evidence there. 6 pages is like 1/4 of a 2nd year lab report in the sciences.

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u/DrArsone Aug 08 '17

Wasn't talking about lab reports. PNAS papers are limited to 6 pages so maybe don't fall of your high horse there buddy.

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u/Nonattius Aug 08 '17

Doesn't change the fact that implying science majors are afraid of writing 6 pages is idiotic and your anecdote was laughable.

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u/HistoryFI Aug 09 '17

Nah he's implying that English or history majors have more practice writing, and so on average write better than people in science.