Are We Obligated to Repeatedly Engage Bad Science?

The Damore Debacle and Going Nuclear

For a memo criticizing diversity policies, Damore’s post is remarkably restrained. There is no angry vitriol. No real invective. It is true that Damore criticizes Google’s “echo chamber,” but criticism is not identical to abuse. It is not even clear to me that Damore sought to perpetuate negative gender stereotypes. Damore believed that the picture he painted of women was an accurate one, one that was substantiated by empirical evidence. The gist of Damore’s argument is this: because women are biologically less suited for tech occupations than males, we ought not expect to see women in tech fields with the same frequency as male counterparts.

Pojman and Damore are wrong. At best, the argument presented against the Equal Abilities Thesis is simplistic; at worst, it is egregiously false. However, is merely being wrong, as opposed to being malicious, a fireable offense? Terminating an employee is the nuclear option of the professional world. Google went nuclear on Damore and, in doing so, they likely terminated the possibility of ever changing Damore’s mind and reinforced the right’s claim that they are persecuted by the liberal elite.

The kind of extreme reaction, or overreaction, demonstrated by Google drives the increasingly-shrill spectacle that passes for political discourse in this country. But what are the alternatives? Discussion? Debate? One might argue that we are required to engage with Damore’s claims before we dismiss him. In fact, we could easily offer a point-by-point refutation of Damore’s argument. The problem with this kind of response is that it is time consuming and it has been done before. Each claim in Damore’s memo has been addressed, first by the scholarly community, and then by popular media outlets like HuffPo. Yet, despite repeated efforts at debunking sex difference myths and misrepresentations, they persist. I would argue that this persistence stems from simple utility; myths concerning biological sex differences are useful red herrings that stymie discussions of equality by forcing equality advocates to waste time and energy revisiting the same dubious research again and again. “Why won’t you just engage us in debate?” they demand. They then proceed to take our collective weariness, our unwillingness to trod over the same barren ground yet again, as evidence that gender equality proponents live in an “echo chamber.”

This leaves us in a difficult position with no good options to choose from. We can exercise the nuclear option, banishing people like Damore to the fringes of polite society. Yet, as the rise of the alt right has shown, marginalizing segments of the population can have undesirable side effects. We can ignore these arguments. However, like marginalization, ignoring opposing views can be devastating. We can refute memos like Damore’s each time they occur. However, if we take this obligation seriously, we must recognize that it is a relentless obligation. This means that we could ceaselessly work towards refuting each and every Damore, without ever completing the task. A better option is to discourage the circulation of these myths and half-truths by holding media outlets like Breitbart more accountable for the accuracy of the material that they publish. Stop the Damores of the world at their source by staunching the flow of misleading information that gives rise to them. This option is far better than the nuclear alternative, and one that is worth exploring.

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