politica della deferenza

Politica dell deferenza

Oggi il rispetto verso le minoranze serve a non far niente per le minoranze.

https://freddiedeboer.substack.com/p/the-basics-deference-politics

Politica dell deferenza

Oggi il rispetto verso le minoranze serve a non far niente per le minoranze.

DISCRIMINARE E' BELLO

https://feedly.com/i/entry/pCjzw1s9uw4o7o2a6k88mWl61VH8mv6Frk5BTARJuI0=_16ea3d927fd:f0998b:890aa44d

Riccardo Mariani

Adesso · 

DISCRIMINARE E' BELLO

Il mondo moderno si basa molto sulla divisione del lavoro, per questo viviamo in luoghi diversi, abbiamo stili di vita diversi e frequentiamo persone diverse. Ma anche nel mondo antico c'era una divisione dei compiti, cosicché le persone si formavano delle aspettative sulle altre persone assegnando loro dei "ruoli sociali" sulla base di talune caratteristiche esteriori immediatamente visibili.

Ad esempio, in una società con "ruoli di genere", ci sono aspettative ampiamente condivise riguardo ai tipi di compiti che le donne svolgono rispetto agli uomini. A volte queste aspettative erano così forti che alle donne era impedito fare altro. Ma più comunemente le aspettative potevano essere violate pagando un prezzo. C'erano ruoli sociali ovunque, legati alla famiglia, all'etnia, alla classe, all'età, al corpo, alla personalità e al luogo di nascita.

Quando esiste un modello sperimentato con successo è naturale e conveniente conservarlo per massimizzare l'informazione e rendere più prevedibile la società. Possiamo così sapere in anticipo le persone più adatte per certi compiti. Inoltre, si riducono i costi per programmare la formazione e le affiliazioni delle persone già nella prima fase della loro vita. Un bel guadagno.

E' la competizione tra gruppi a garantirci poi che certi equilibri nella distribuzione dei ruoli sono più efficienti di altri, per alimentare la competizione dovremmo favorire la diversità e il pluralismo.

Lo stereotipo che si forma puo' essere troppo forte o troppo debole. Nel primo caso facciamo eccessivo affidamento sulle aspettative iniziali e sperimentiamo troppo poco con le alternative. Ma con ruoli sociali troppo deboli, non sfruttiamo al meglio informazioni facilmente accessibili.

Ad esempio, consideriamo la variabile clima atmosferico. Se cresci in un clima particolare, la probabilità di vivere in un clima simile quando sarai adulto è elevata, quindi per te ha senso fin dall'inizio adattare le tue abitudini a quel contesto. Quando in seguito si cercherà una persona che viva e lavori al meglio in quel clima, ha senso optare per dei candidati che lo hanno già sperimentato, magari da secoli o millenni in modo tale che abbiano sviluppato un vantaggio sia culturale che genetico. Spesso costoro avranno sviluppato delle caratteristiche esteriori collaterali che faciliteranno la loro individuazione.

Capita che la società possa talvolta restare bloccata in equilibri inefficienti dove l'assegnazione tradizionale dei ruoli ha perso di senso visti i cambiamenti del contesto. Qui - al fine di sbloccare la situazione - le regole "antidiscriminatorie" possono giocare un ruolo al fine di allentare gli stereotipi. Purché si tenga conto che:

1) la libertà di sperimentare gioca un ruolo importante quando si tratta di scoprire nuovi equilibri, di conseguenza è giusto usare con parsimonia la coercizione.

2) Dovremmo attenderci un ruolo limitato nel tempo per qualsiasi regola anti-discriminatoria ricordandoci che noi dobbiamo "scoprire" il nuovo equilibrio efficiente, non cercare di raggiungerne uno di natura ideologica che abbiamo già in testa.

3) Anche quando i ruoli sociali possono cambiare, ci sarà un costo per tali cambiamenti, e quindi sarà spesso più conveniente insistere con la tradizione se il gioco non vale la candela.

Mi piace

C

L'ETA' E' MIA E ME LA GESTISCO IO

Riccardo Mariani

Adesso · 

L'ETA' E' MIA E ME LA GESTISCO IO

Se il vecchietto si sente in forma perché non dovrebbe poter dichiarare un'età inferiore? In fondo "tu sei quel che senti di essere", altrimenti scatta la discriminazione. Emil Ratelband ha già fatto ricorso al tribunale olandese, con i suoi 69 anni non riusciva a rimorchiare sui siti di incontri.

A me l'articolo non ha convinto - i rischi di falsificazione sono troppo elevati - ma ve lo propongo lo stesso.

AEON.CO

Why older people should be allowed to change their legal age – Joona Räsänen | Aeon Ideas

Older people face discrimination based on their chronological age. The solution seems obvious: allow legal-age change

https://feedly.com/i/entry/Od/Z0OrlTBzSrJtcae1t5qtueOtvOco3UFNx6gD9Pd4=_16ccc9e26c7:a500c2:889dc38f

PREGIUDIZIO O STATISTICA?

PREGIUDIZIO O STATISTICA?

La discriminazione è ovunque, anche sulla piattaforma Airbnb famosa per la prenotazione di alloggi in varie città del mondo.

Una foto che mostri la razza del richiedente rende meno probabile l’accoglimento della prenotazione di un nero.

Perché? Pregiudizio o statistica?

C’è un modo facile per capirlo: il pregiudizio si combatte con meno informazione, la statistica con più informazione.

Airbnb utilizzò la strategia anti-pregiudizio proibendo di pubblicare foto. La discriminazione continuò ad operare sui nomi che lasciavano trasparire un’origine afro-americana.

Un gruppo di sperimentatori provò allora con strategie anti-statistica fornendo più informazioni. Si riscontrò che una recensione positiva sui precedenti dell'ospite nero in fase di prenotazione annullava ogni divario.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2882982

CHAPTER 2 Inferences

CHAPTER 2 Inferences
Note:2@@@@@@@@@

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students taking economics classes are, on average, less willing to contribute to certain left-of-center political organizations.
Note:DA QS SI CONCLUDEVA CHE GLI STUDENTI DI ECONOMIA NN ERANO GENEROSI

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less sympathetic to those particular organizations,
Note:CONCLUSIONE CORRETTA

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critical-thinking skills that could lead students to be skeptical of certain agendas.
Note:ALTRA CONCLUSIONE POSSIBILE SULLA DOTAZIONE

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lower tuition for college students is likely to entail higher taxes and/or reduced services for families
Note:ESEMPIO DI ONLUS COINVOLTA E PENSIERO DELL ECONOMISTA

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physics majors are the least compassionate because they are the least likely to offer encouragement to the inventors of perpetual-motion machines.
Note:ANALOGIA PARADOSSALE

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Interpreting evidence is always perilous,
Note:OGGETTO DEL CAPITOLO

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When a university admits 46 percent of its male applicants and only 30 percent of its (equally qualified) female applicants, can we infer gender discrimination?
Note:MOLTI AVVOCATI PENSANO DI SÌ...CAUSA A BERLEY NEL 1973

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someone observed that not a single one of Berkeley’s individual departments appeared to be discriminating.
Note:NEL CORSO DEL PROCESSO....SORPRESA

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women were being disproportionately rejected because women were disproportionately applying to the most selective departments.
Note:SPIEGAZIONE

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focus on the aggregate statistics—that
Note:L ERRORE DI MOLTI...E ANCHE DEGLI AVVOCATI

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1 Jury Selection
Note:Tttttttttt

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blacks are systematically underrepresented on American juries.
Note:DENUNCIA

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25 percent of white Americans have served
Note:DATO

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25 percent of black Americans have served
Note:Ccccc L ACCUSA SEMBREREBBE INFONDATA

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blacks live primarily in cities, where it’s very common to be called for jury duty,
Note:NO...CI SONO ALTRI FATTORI

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even though 25 percent of blacks and 25 percent of whites have served on juries, blacks are apparently being discriminated against in both the urban and rural areas.
Note:POSSIBILE CONCLUSIONE....ERRORE DELL AGGREGGATO...DI SEGNO CONTRARIO RISPETTO A BERKLEY

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2 Income Trends
Note:Tttttttttttt

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25-year period,
Note:QUANDO

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the median income of all
Note:COSA

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3 percent.
Note:DELTA...AUMENTO

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the median income of white male
Note:COSA 2

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15 percent.
Note:DELTA DUE

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at least one other demographic group (white females, nonwhite males, or nonwhite females), the increase must have been even less than 3 percent?
Note:CONCLUSIONE AFFRETTATA

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White males had 15 percent growth, and every other group had even larger growth—as
Note:LA REALTÀ

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That’s possible partly because the sizes of the groups changed.
Note:SPIEGAZIONE...UN INCREMENTO ELEVATO X POCHI INCREMENTA DI OCO IL TOTALE

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In 1980 the median worker was a white man. By 2005, enough women had entered the workforce that the median worker was a woman. Women do indeed earn less than men,
Note:SONO AUMENTATE LE PERSONE CHE GUADAGNAVANO POCO ANCHE SE PURE LORO SONO MIGLIORATE

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the average math scores of seventeen-year-olds have dropped slightly over the past twenty years or so—even though the scores of the average white student, the average black student, and the average Hispanic student have all increased
Note:ALTRO PARADOSSO: AUMENTANO TUTTI I VOTI MA DIMINUISCE LA MEDIA...XCHÈ AUMENTA IL NUMERO DEI PEGGIORI

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4 The Smoking Gun
Note:Tttttttttttt

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A tobacco company claims to have evidence that cigarettes prevent cancer.
Note:IL CASO

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only 5 percent of nonsmokers get cancer, while 20 percent of smokers do.
Note:IN UN CAMPIONE RAPPRESENTATIVO...STO FATTO È UNA CONFUTAZIONE?

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possible for a single legitimate study to show both that smoking prevents cancer and that cancer strikes smokers disproportionately.
Note:INFATTI

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there might be a single gene (call it the STRS gene) that makes people highly sensitive to stress.
Note:UNA VARIABILE SOPRA LE ALTRE

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aggregate statistic proves nothing.
Note:IN GENERE

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natural experiments where, for example, one state or another suddenly raises the tax on cigarettes,
Note:LE FONTI X SOSTENERE LA DANNOSITÀ DEL FUMO SONO ALTRE

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doctors are pretty sure they understand the mechanism by which smoking causes cancer,
Note:LA SECONDA FONTE

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each step in the mechanism can be tested in a lab.
Note:Cccccccccc

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Aggregate statistics show that urban areas with large police presences tend to have a lot of crime.
Note:ALTRO INGANNO CLASSICO

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the city of Washington, DC, substantially increases its police presence whenever the national terror alert status is raised from yellow to orange.
Note:UN ESPERIMENTO NATURALE

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when the alert level is orange and there are more police on the streets, crime rates fall substantially.
Note:ESITO

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we know that college graduates typically earn higher wages than high school graduates.
Note:ALTRA SITUAZIONE

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education tends to boost your wages?
Note:PRIMA IPOTESI

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those who already expect to be high earners figure they can afford to waste four years in college?
Note:SECONDA

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a single genetic makeup leads to both a strong work ethic and a taste for higher education?
Note:TERZA

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The gold standard would be another controlled experiment:
Note:PURTROPPO IL PROB È INSOLUBILE

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5 Twin Studies
Note:Tttttttttttttt

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Fred and Ed are brothers, three years apart in age. Fred went to college; Ed did not. Fred earns more than Ed.
Note:X ME IL CASO IDEALE X SPERIMENTARE

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Spike and Ike are identical twins. Spike went to college; Ike did not. Spike earns more than Ike.
Note:IL CASO SOPRAVVALUTATO

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there must be some reason why Spike went to college and Ike didn’t. Presumably there was already some important difference there.
Note:XCHÈ SOPRAVVALUTATO

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A lot can happen in three years. The family might have gone bankrupt; a parent might have died;
Note:XCHÈ IL CASO IDEALE...FRED NN È ANDATO AL COLLEGE ANCHE SE I DUE FRATELLI SONO MOLTO SIMILI

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Even identical twins are never truly identical,
Note:PURTROPPO

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Don’t jump to conclusions based solely on aggregate statistics.
Note:LA CONCLUSIONE GENERALE

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don’t jump to conclusions, period. Because sometimes it’s the breakdown statistics that mislead
Note:ANCORA MEGLIO

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7 The Teacher’s Dilemma
Note:Ttttttttt

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when you praise students for their success, they don’t usually improve very much. In fact, they often dis-improve.
Note:LA SCOPERTA DELL INSEGNANTE...REGRESSIONE ALLA MEDIA?

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when you speak harshly to a weak student, that student usually improves.
Note:VICEVERSA

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weak students have a lot of room for improvement.
Note:È PIÙ FACILE MIGLIORARE SE SEI SCARSO...E VICEVERSA

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Sports Illustrated jinx—sports teams and players who appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated tend to suffer performance declines.
Note:TIPICO DELLO SPORT

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Making the cover of Sports Illustrated is like being praised by your teacher—it
Note:ANALOGIA

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examples of the statistical phenomenon called regression to the mean.
Note:IL FENOMENO

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8 College Education
Note:Ttttttttttt

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Moosylvania State University
Note:DOVE

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its weakest third-year students are generally being held back by poor writing skills.
Note:COSA

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require all freshmen to pass a writing proficiency
Note:RIMEDIO

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Is this policy justified by the evidence?
Note:DOMANDA...RISPOSTA: NOOOO...I PUNTI DEBOLI DEI SOPRAVVISSUTI SONO SPESSO PUNTI DI FORZA

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Despite their poor writing skills, these students are still in school in their third year. That’s evidence that poor writing skills are not the key barrier to success.
Note:AL CONTRARIO

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The least successful students are those who flunked out in their first and second years,
Note:I VERI BISOGNOSI...LA VERA MALATTIA DA CURARE

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solid math skills are absolutely necessary to survive the first two years,
Note:NEL CASO CONCRETO

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the British Royal Air Force adding armor to its World War II warplanes.
Note:STORIA RISAPUTA

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only in spots
Note:X NN APPESANTIRE

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the majority of the bullet holes were in a few particular locations
Note:DA UN ISPEZIONE AI SOPRAVVISSUTI!!!!!

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Abraham Wald
Note:L UOMO DELLA PROVVIDENZA

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It’s the locations with no visible bullet holes that need the armor—because
Note:SI ACCORSE CHE QUEI BUCHI...

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9 Good-Looking Teachers
Note:Tttttttttttttttttt

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professors who are perceived as physically beautiful generally receive much higher ratings.
Note:GLI STUDENTI VALUTANO I PROF...SUPERFICIALI?

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you should have expected all along that the prettiest teachers would be among the best.
Note:IN REALTÀ È ACCURATA...MA XCHÈ?

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“fashion model”
Note:LAVORI DOVE LA BELLEZZA CONTA

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“movie star”
Note:ANCORA

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anything in sales or retailing.
Note:ALTRI

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You show me a lighthouse keeper with movie-star good looks, and I’ll show you (at least probably) a really really good lighthouse keeper—one
Note:IL BELLO CHE LAVORA DOVE LA BELLEZA NN CONTA È VERAMENTE APPASSIONATO

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evidence that attractive teachers really are more effective,
Note:INFATTO...ANCHE DA RICERCHE INDIPENDENTI

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You should expect more attractive teachers to do a better job even if students are completely blind to their physical beauty.
Note:CONXLUSIONE

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10 Hospital Patients
Note:Tttttttttt

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80 patients being treated for cancer and 80 being treated for heart attacks.
Note:I RICOVERATI IN UN GIORNO MRDIO ALL OSPEDALE DI NOD

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it appear that the average Noddian is about equally likely to be struck by a heart attack as by cancer?
Note:DOMANDA RETORICA

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the fact that some hospital stays are longer than others.
Note:IL BUSILLIS

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I could just as easily (though far less interestingly) have compiled a collection of equally complicated and subtle puzzles that most people get right.
Note:MOLTI SBAGLIANO NEL RISPONDERE AL QUIZ MA IN QUIZ NN MENO COMPLICATI SE LA VAVANO.XCHÈ?

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11 Checking Cards
Note:Ttttttttt

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You want to know whether every card with an A on one side has a 7 on the other. Which cards must you flip?
Note:2 CARTE COME NELLA FIGURA.....RISPOSTA DIFFICILE....LA PRIMA E LA QUARTA...VIENE DA PENSARE ALLA TERZA CHE IN REALTÀ È INDIFFERENTE AI NOSTRI FINI POTREBBE AVERE QUALSIASI LETTERA SUL DORSO...MENTRE SE LA QUARTA HA UNA A CONFUTA TUTTO...

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12 Barefoot Cheaters
Note:Tttttttt

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ALL CHILDREN MUST WEAR SHOES:
Note:ORDINE PERENTORIO

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To catch all the potential rule breakers, which black boxes must you peek behind?
Note:DOMANDA FACILE...IL BIMBO OSCURATO E IL PIEDE NUDO OSCURATO...OVVERO PRIMO E QUARTO

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13 Which Is Harder?
Note:Ttttttttttt

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problem 11 or problem 12?
Note:DEI DUE PRECEDENRI QUAL È IL PIÙ STICO

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Problems 11 and 12 are, in essence, exactly the same problem,

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only about 10 percent of people solve problem 11 correctly
Note:MA...COLPO DI SCENA!

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great many more solve problem 12 correctly.
Note:Cccccccccccc

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our critical faculties kick into high gear in social situations,
Note:CONCLUSIONE....RAGIONIAMO BENE IN UN CONTESTO E NN IN UN ALTRO....ANCHE SE CHIAMATI A FARE LO STESSO RAGIONAMENTO

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particularly when we’re on the lookout for cheaters.

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ESIGENZA

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a well-developed instinct to root out cheating,
Note:CIÒ CHE CI RENDE UMANI

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14 Gas Prices
Note:Ttttttttttttt LA FALLACIA DEL COSPIRAZIONISTA

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the price of gasoline rose so high that oil company profits actually increased. True or False: This is evidence that the oil companies collude
Note:IN SEGUITO A UN INTERRUZIONE DELLE FORNITURE

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The big hike in gas prices is evidence—in fact, it’s pretty much proof—that the oil companies don’t collude.
Note:AL CONTRARIO...RISPOSTA

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If it were this easy for the oil companies to raise their profits, then they wouldn’t have waited for a supply interruption.
Note:LA SPIEGA

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Gasoline customers kept right on buying a lot of gas after the price hike, so they must be quite price insensitive.
Note:PREZZI BASSI ANCHE CON DOMANDA RIGIDA!…IMPOSSIBILE SENZA IPER COMPETIZIONE

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15 The Gender Gap
Note:TtttttttttUNA PAGA DEL 23% IN MENO AUMENTEREBBE ENORMEMENTE IL VALORE DELLA AZIONI POICHÈ QUESTI È MOLTO PIÙ PICCOLO DEL MONTE SALARI (SU CUI SI RISPARMIEREBBE)...IMPOSSIBILE LASCIARE SUL MARCIAPIEDE TANTI SOLDI

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women are paid 77 cents for every dollar earned by equally skilled men.
Note:ALICE È DEPRESSA

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If it were true, he says, profit-maximizing firms would clamor to hire cheap women
Note:L ECONOMISTA BOB SI I DIGNA

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the people who run corporations are not always single-minded rational profit maximizers.
Note:MA ALICE SA COME VANNO QS COSE...È POSSIBILE DISCRIMINARE E SOPRAVVOVERE

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managers routinely overlook small profit opportunities but rarely pass up large ones.
Note:CARLITA È LA PIÙ SAGGIA...BISOGNA QUANTIFICARE

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Pure logic can’t settle this one.
Note:Ccccccccc

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the workforce is currently (to a rough but reasonable approximation) about 50 percent female.
Note:PEIMO DATO

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corporations pay out about ⅔ of their revenue in employee
Note:SECNDO DATO...IL RESTO VA AL CAPITALE

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we can assume that of every $300 that comes in, about $200 goes to the employees
Note:DI FATTO

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Instead of paying your workers $200, you’re now paying them 89.5 percent of that, or $179—a saving of $21.
Note:RISPARMIO

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a 42 percent increase.
Note:NEL GUADAGNO

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That’s huge.
Note:Cccccccc

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If Alice is right, corporate managers everywhere are seeing that opportunity and choosing not to grab it.
Note:STRANO

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what does account for gender gaps in wages.
Note:SCEGLIAMO UN ALTRA SPIEGA

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a conglomeration of a great many factors,
Note:RISPOSTA VCOMPLESSA

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differences in ability, differences in training, differences in interests, differences in wage-negotiation tactics, differences in career choices, differences in priorities, and, yes, discrimination.
Note:ELENCO

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The evidence, pro and con, could fill a book—a
NN PROSEGUIAMO QS DISCORSO

Contro la discriminazione sessuale nello sport

Contro la discriminazione sessuale nello sport

Against sexual discrimination in sports – Values in Sport: Elitism, Nationalism, Gender Equality and the Scientific Manufacturing of Winners – Torbjörn Tännsjö

***

Esistono ambiti sociali in cui la discriminazione femminile si pratica ancora senza alcuna vergogna: per esempio lo sport. Come farla cessare?

***

Introduction

Sexual discrimination is a widespread and recalcitrant phenomenon. However, in Western societies, explicit sexual discrimination, when exposed, is seldom defended straightforwardly. There is one remarkable exception to this, however. Within sports sexual discrimination is taken for granted… Even by radical feminists this kind of sexual discrimination has rarely been questioned. This is strange….

Note:NELLO SPORT LA DISCRIMINIZZAZIONE SESSUALE ÈACCETTATA

The thesis of this chapter is that it is not. Even within sports, sexual discrimination is morally objectionable. No sexual discrimination should take place within sports.

L’ECCEZIONE È GIUSTIFICABILE?

The reasons for giving up sexual discrimination within sports, and for allowing individuals of both sexes to compete with each other, is simple. In sports it is crucial that the best person wins. Then sexual differences are simply irrelevant.

Note:RAGIONI PER ELIMINARLA

These are the main arguments for sexual discrimination within sports – some of them, no doubt, striking an indistinguishable (yet false) chord of special concern for women: Sexual discrimination within sports is no different from the use of, say, different weight classes in certain sports, intended to make the result less predictable. We use sexual discrimination because we seek, to use Warren Fraleigh’s term, ‘the sweet tension of uncertainty of outcome’. If women and men compete, and women defeat men, then this will cause violent responses from men. So we had better retain the discrimination. If we give up sexual discrimination in sports, then probably all women will find (because on average they perform poorly in comparison with men) that they are always defeated by some men. This will be discouraging for women in general and for female athletes in particular. Female sports are different from male sports. They represent a unique value, and if we gave up discrimination this unique value would be foregone. A similar argument can be devised with reference to male sports, of course.

Note:ARGOMENTI AVANZATI DI SOLITO PER TOLLERARLA

Sexual discrimination as no different to the use of weight classes?

I have sometimes met the objection that sexual discrimination in some sports is no different to the use of weight classes in, say, boxing. We have such weight classes in order to ascertain that the outcome of a competition is not too easily predictable.

Note:OBIEZIONE DEL PESO

Such classes are constructed with reference to crucial characteristics of the individual athlete, characteristics with relevance for the capacity to perform…Sexual discrimination is different: it takes place on the ground that, on average, women perform less well than men in certain sports. This is objectionable….Perhaps this is a mere statistical accident. Perhaps it is due to socially constructed…And even if the statistical correlation is due to biological sexual differences (more below about sexual differences, and how to define them), and even if it has a law-like character, it is still only a statistical difference….women, who are not (statistically speaking) ‘typical’, perform better than many (most) men do….

Note:LA DIFFERENZA CON LA DISCRIMINAZIONE SESSUALE

It is ‘discrimination’, then, not only in a factual sense (in the way the term is used in this chapter), when a competent woman, who can and wants to defeat a certain man, is prohibited from doing so, on the ground that women in general do not perform as well as men in general. But it is also ‘discrimination’ in a moral sense, and such discrimination is morally reprehensible.

Note:DOPPIA DISCRIMINAZIONE

sexual classes (sex is only indirectly and statistically relevant to winning in boxing).

Note:CONCLUSIONE

Sexual discrimination because of male aggressiveness?

Not only boxing, but also many other sports, are aggressive and involve a considerable amount of physical contact and encounter between competing athletes. Now, if women and men are allowed to compete against each other, and if some women defeat some men, then this would trigger violent responses from these men, or so the argument goes.

Note:I VANTAGGI DELL’AGGRESSIVITÀ: L’UOMO CHE LA BUTTA IN RISSA

it would be wrong to surrender to the argument, for there is another way of responding to the phenomenon of male aggressiveness against women. I am thinking here of the possibility of rendering impossible the aggressive response. This could be done if the rules of the game in question were changed. Aggressive assault on competitors could be punished much more severely than it is in many sports currently.

Note:RIMEDI ALTERNATIVI ALLA DISCRIMINAZIONE

Take tennis as an example. In modern tennis, the service is of enormous importance: an efficient service presupposes a lot of physical strength from the server. At the same time, an effective service tends to render the sport rather boring: it kills the game by taking the elegance out of it. An obvious solution to this problem would be to introduce a rule saying that a service is not successful unless the receiver has successfully returned it.

Note:ESEMPIO DEL TENNIS

Women will be discouraged?

even if it is a good thing from the point of view of sexual equality when a woman beats a man, is it not a bad thing, from the same point of view, when the best women in certain sports find that they cannot compete with the best men? Wouldn’t this fact be disappointing for these women?

Note:DONNE SCORAGGIATE?

This is basically the case in many other fields of society. There are men within certain sciences and arts, such as mathematics and musical composition, who perform better than all women (there is no female Gödel or Bach, for example). Should this be disappointing for women? I think not. I think rather it should be considered a real challenge, for we do not believe that it is because of their biological sex that no women solved logical problems like Gödel or composed like Bach.

Note:MUSICA E MATEMATICA

From Pausanias’ references to dropping women from the side of a cliff if they even observed the ancient Olympic Games, to de Coubertin’s ideal that the goals that were to be achieved by the athletes through participation in the Olympic Games were not appropriate for women (de Coubertin 1912), one can easily see that the place of women in sport has been, for the most part, foreign at best. It is this basic idea, the idea that sport (or sometimes even physical activity), particularly high-level competitive sport, is somehow incompatible with what women are, or what they should be, that must dominate any discussion of the unique issues for women in sport. Philosophies of ideal sport, and ideal women, lie behind discussions of permitting women to compete, of choosing the types of sport in which women can compete, in developing judging standards for adjudicated (as opposed to refereed) sports – contrast gymnastics and basketball – in attitudes to aggression, and competition, and indeed to the very existence of women’s sport as a separate entity at all.

Note:LO SPORT COME COSTRUZIONE SOCIALE

I believe that, if such obstacles are eliminated, if new weight and length classes are introduced in many sports, if the rules are changed so as to render it impossible for aggressive athletes to punish their competitors, and if severe punishments are introduced for violations of the rules, then women can actually compete successfully and safely with men in many sports.

Note:CAMBIARE LA REGOLE

One of my colleagues, who likes to go to further extremes than I do,2 has objected to my argument in the following way. If we should abolish sexual discrimination within sports, he asks, why not abolish species discrimination as well? Why not have men competing with animals? Why not have Carl Lewis running over 100m against a hunting leopard?… However, if the differences between men and hunting leopards were merely statistical, so that some men could beat some hunting leopards, then I am not sure that competitions between men and beasts would seem so outlandish; after all, they used to have such competitions during antiquity….

Note:LEWIS CONTRO IL LEOPARDO

Female sports represent a unique value

It may seem that female sports are different from male sports, and so they represent a unique value. To give up sexual discrimination would therefore be like giving up valuable existing sports. It would be like giving up soccer or baseball, or basketball or hurdles in running.

Note:OBIEZIONE: C’È UN’UNICITÀ DA TUTELARE NELLO SPORT FEMMINILE

to the extent that there is a grain of truth in it, this grain of truth does not warrant the conclusion that we should retain sexual discrimination in sports. Rather, it does warrant the conclusion that many aspects of sports need to be reformed, so that ‘female’ qualities are added to them or, even, so that ‘female’ qualities are exchanged for ‘male’ ones.

Note:FEMMINILIZZARE LO SPORT

To put it drastically, therefore, I think it is fair to say that, in many sports, women compete against each other in masculinity, narrowly conceived. It is hard to find any special feminine qualities in such competitions… I find the fact simply degrading, to both women and men. I also find that, if some women do want to compete in masculinity, why should they restrict themselves to a competition against each other?…

Note:MITO DELLA FEMMINILITÀ NELLO SPORT

there may still be a grain of truth in the saying that women’s sports in some aspects have unique qualities. I think, then, of qualities that are less to do with mere physical strength and more to do with inventiveness, sensibility, cooperation, strategy, playfulness, wit, and so forth. There may be more room for these qualities in women’s competitions. And, to the extent that this is true, I think we are dealing with genuine and unique (female) qualities. However, there exists an obvious and better way of retaining these qualities than to retain sexual discrimination within sports. These qualities should be introduced in all sorts of sport, and they should not only be added to existing qualities but, in many cases, be exchanged for existing qualities.

Note:SE LA FEMMINILITÀ NELLO SPORT ESISTE ANDREBBE CULTURALMENTE ESALTATA ED ESTESA

We tend to think of the possible sports as a somewhat fixed group of those currently available. Yet even basketball and football are of very recent invention. Since women have been virtually excluded from all sports until the last century, it is appropriate that some sports using women’s specific traits are not developing, such as synchronised swimming. (English 1995: 287)

Note:INVENTARSI LO SPORT

Sports without moderation means competition in aspects such as mere strength…The problem with our fascination with strength is that it has a ‘fascistoid’ value basis,…

Note:OGGI TROPPO INTERESSE SULLA FORZA

Genetic engineering, once it becomes possible, will be just as inevitable in sports as doping – unless we can render its application to sports impossible. And a way of rendering the genetic design of winners impossible is to change sports and to allow moral virtues to become crucial, for there are hardly any genes for inventiveness, sensitivity, cooperation, playfulness and wit in sports.

Note:INGEGNIERIA GENETICA E LA FINE DELLA FORZA BRUTA

All this means that, when we admire the winners of reformed (moderated) sports, our fascination for the winners will no longer bear a similarity to fascism, which is certainly an additional gain to be made.

Note:LO SPORT DEL FUTURO

A reductio ad absurdum of sexual discrimination

What are we to test for, when we test whether a certain athlete qualifies as female or male? Three options are open to us. We could test for genitalia, for gender, or for chromosomal constitution.

Note:COME DISCRIMINARE

There are many problems connected with testing for genitalia. First of all, the criterion is vague. We are operating here with a continuum. After all, even if rare, there are examples of hermaphroditism. Second, it is not clear that the test for genitalia is a valid one. In what sense are genitalia relevant? In what sports could genitalia be relevant? I blush when I seek an answer to that question. Finally, genitalia can easily be manipulated with: such tests are bound to be inefficient when it comes to people who (in an attempt to cheat) are prepared to undergo surgery.

Note:PROBLEMA CON IL CRITERIO DEI GENITALI

The problems associated with testing for gender are even more obvious. First of all, this criterion is extremely vague.

Note:GENDER… ANCORA PIÙ VAGO

What, then, about chromosomal tests? These tests are what we rely on today (see Berit Skirstad’s discussion of them in the Chapter 8), and I suppose that, pace Skirstad’s opposition to gender tests as such, if we want to retain a system of sexual discrimination within sports, then chromosomal tests are what we have to rely on even in the future.

Note:IL TEST CROMOSOMICO REGGE

a problem with our sex chromosomes is that, even if most people conform to a typical male constitution (they have the genotype XY) or a typical female constitution (they have the genotype XX), not everyone does. There are individuals with only one X chromosome (they have the genotype X0; that is, they suffer from what has been called Turner’s syndrome), and there are individuals with two X chromosomes and one Y chromosome (they have the genotype XXY; that is, they suffer from what has been called Klinefelter’s syndrome).

Note:NON UNIVOCITÀ

All this means that, if we want to be consistent, and if we want to be true to the rationale behind sexual discrimination, we should go a step further and even introduce new discrimination categories (people suffering from Turner’s syndrome and Klinefelter’s syndrome, and people exhibiting other aberrations such as XYY, to mention just three examples)…However, this may strike most of us as downright absurd….

Note:SPORT RISERVATI AI SESSI INTERMEDI

We could add an even simpler argument to this. If we have sexual discrimination in sports, then (in order to avoid cheating and fraud) we need to have tests for sex…However, it runs counter to a highly plausible idea of genetic integrity that information about a person’s genetic constitution should ever be forced upon him or her (Schneider and Skirstad both seem to agree about this). We have a right not to know our genetic makeup, if we do not want to know it. Compulsory chromosomal tests for athletes violate this right.…

Note:DIRITTO A NON CONOSCERE IL PROPRIO SESSO

Three desiderata of moderation should be met, when interventions in the development of sports take place: Non-moral virtues (such as strength) should be given a less important role, and moral virtues (such as playfulness, inventiveness, sensitivity, cooperation and wit) a more important role, within sports. Sports should be developed in a direction that renders our admiration for the winners of sports competitions more decent. Sports should develop in a direction that makes it possible to abolish without any cost all kinds of sexual discrimination within sport.

TRE MODIFICHE AUSPICABILI