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by toor2 3387 days ago
Zuckerberg quote from article: >I think you need to have all kinds of diversity if you want to make progress together as a society

While I do think there are benifits to idealogical diversity, I think this statement is hamfisted. Do climate deniers aid the progress of climate science? Do flat earthers contribute meaningfully to cosmology, geography or cartography? No. I believe the actual benifits of idealogical diversity stem from scepticism and falsifiability within a community (science). A flat earther physicist would add idealogical deversity to the physics community but they wouldn't contribute to the progress of the field.

In softer, less objective spheres such as social issues and politics, the same idea applies. Does giving racsim a platform in the name of diversity really progress society? Maybe it could by reinforcing the beliefs of anti-racist people and thus diminishing racism. However it could also propagate racsim regressing society, which I think is a more likely outcome.

These problems and questions do not have a simple, computable solutions. The matters of progress are entirely subjective making fair solutions nuanced and difficult to come by. That's why I think statements like the one Zuckerberg made are hamfisted because they offer a one-size-fits-all solution to these nuanced complicated problems.

DISCLAIMER: I am not taking a stance on Peter Theil and Facebook, I am just responding to rhetoric that I have seen frequently since The Election™