1 00:00:02,620 --> 00:00:05,600 I used to be a senior software engineer at Google. 2 00:00:05,600 --> 00:00:07,379 Until they fired me. 3 00:00:07,380 --> 00:00:09,880 For doing something unforgivable. 4 00:00:09,880 --> 00:00:14,740 Something so controversial that it was the number one news story for days. 5 00:00:14,740 --> 00:00:19,500 My crime: I wrote an internal document, that among other things, suggested that men and 6 00:00:19,500 --> 00:00:22,320 women, on average, are different. 7 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:23,680 Like I told you. 8 00:00:23,680 --> 00:00:25,520 Unforgivable. 9 00:00:25,520 --> 00:00:29,820 The politically progressive viewpoint, which is dominant at Google and in the media, 10 00:00:29,820 --> 00:00:32,900 is that all disparities in society are due to injustices. 11 00:00:32,900 --> 00:00:38,020 Or in this case, that the gender gap in tech is solely due to some form of sexism. 12 00:00:38,020 --> 00:00:39,800 But is this true? 13 00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:42,400 The politically correct answer is: yes. 14 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:44,200 And Google acts accordingly. 15 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:48,560 It treats men and women differently during hiring and promotion, holds official women-only 16 00:00:48,570 --> 00:00:54,780 events, and gives mandatory sensitivity training on how to combat alleged sexist bias. 17 00:00:54,780 --> 00:00:59,700 Of course, all of this makes sense if sexism is indeed the sole cause of the imbalance. 18 00:00:59,700 --> 00:01:03,000 But what if men and women are not exactly the same? 19 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:08,480 Then, sexism is just one of many possible causes of the imbalance, and exclusionary 20 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:14,060 programs and differential treatment can be a counterproductive form of sexism. 21 00:01:14,060 --> 00:01:19,290 These practices actually increase tensions and make some feel like Google cares more 22 00:01:19,290 --> 00:01:22,740 about their gender than their programming ability. 23 00:01:22,740 --> 00:01:26,720 As an engineer, when I’m faced with a problem, I want to solve it. 24 00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:31,580 So I decided to research the premise: that men and women are exactly the same. 25 00:01:31,580 --> 00:01:36,420 I wrote my findings in a 10-page document, titled, “Google’s Ideological Echo Chamber”. 26 00:01:36,420 --> 00:01:38,200 You can read it online. 27 00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:39,620 What did I discover? 28 00:01:39,620 --> 00:01:43,880 That not all of the male-female disparity in tech may be the result of sexism. 29 00:01:43,880 --> 00:01:47,840 That at least some of it may be attributed to men and women having different goals 30 00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:50,080 for their careers and their lives. 31 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:51,840 To cite just two examples: 32 00:01:51,850 --> 00:01:56,840 In the study ”Women, Careers, and Work-Life Preferences,” published in the British Journal 33 00:01:56,840 --> 00:02:02,360 of Guidance and Counseling, the study’s authors conclude that women, across populations, 34 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:07,160 tend to look for more work-life balance, while men tend to have a higher drive for status. 35 00:02:07,160 --> 00:02:12,620 And according to a study by Cal State Fullerton psychologist Richard Lippa, men, on average, 36 00:02:12,629 --> 00:02:17,439 tend to be more interested in things, while women tend to be more interested in people. 37 00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:20,900 These findings have been replicated many times. 38 00:02:20,900 --> 00:02:25,360 They’ve actually been cited by other researchers as a cause for the gender gap in tech. 39 00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:28,400 In other words, I didn’t make this stuff up. 40 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:32,980 In fact, after my document came under attack, evolutionary psychologist Geoffrey Miller 41 00:02:32,980 --> 00:02:36,380 said its “empirical claims are scientifically accurate.” 42 00:02:36,380 --> 00:02:38,080 But Google disagreed. 43 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:40,680 Like…really disagreed. 44 00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:47,120 First, the company’s newly appointed VP of Diversity, Integrity, and Governance, Danielle Brown, 45 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:52,260 posted a memo that said my report “advanced incorrect assumptions about gender.” 46 00:02:52,280 --> 00:02:57,440 Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai, sent a memo to all employees saying that I “cross[ed] 47 00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:00,740 the line by advancing harmful gender stereotypes.” 48 00:03:00,740 --> 00:03:03,940 This was, he added, “not O.K.” 49 00:03:03,940 --> 00:03:06,200 Then, he fired me. 50 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:10,060 By that point, much to my shock, my document had gone viral. 51 00:03:10,060 --> 00:03:14,920 News outlets were branding it an “anti-diversity manifesto.” 52 00:03:14,920 --> 00:03:19,579 But if they had read what I wrote, they could see for themselves that it was pro-diversity. 53 00:03:19,579 --> 00:03:23,969 I had suggested multiple ways that we could get more women into tech without resorting 54 00:03:23,969 --> 00:03:26,360 to counterproductive discrimination. 55 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:28,000 Ironic, isn’t it? 56 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:32,420 The company that hires some of the smartest people in the world couldn’t handle a well-reasoned, 57 00:03:32,420 --> 00:03:34,380 scientific discussion. 58 00:03:34,380 --> 00:03:37,780 But my firing pales in comparison to a larger issue. 59 00:03:37,780 --> 00:03:41,739 Will Google force upon its users the same politically correct views that it forces upon 60 00:03:41,740 --> 00:03:43,280 its employees? 61 00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:47,000 The evidence is disturbing: Google already manipulates its products 62 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:48,740 to fit a certain viewpoint. 63 00:03:48,740 --> 00:03:54,380 Just one example: YouTube, Google’s video platform, restricts access to dozens of PragerU 64 00:03:54,380 --> 00:03:59,320 videos, along with videos made by other influential moderates and conservatives. 65 00:03:59,320 --> 00:04:02,820 Yes, Google is a business and can set its own policies. 66 00:04:02,829 --> 00:04:07,629 But for its billions of users, Google is their main gateway to information, the lens through 67 00:04:07,629 --> 00:04:09,260 which they view the world. 68 00:04:09,260 --> 00:04:13,919 This makes Google, in some ways, more powerful than even the government. 69 00:04:13,920 --> 00:04:18,980 And that means Google has a special responsibility to, well, simply follow its own motto: 70 00:04:18,980 --> 00:04:20,760 “Don’t be evil.” 71 00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:23,840 I’m James Damore for Prager University.