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Unread 03-07-2015, 18:33
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gblake gblake is offline
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AKA: Blake Ross
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Re: Sign this petition to allow girls in robotics! (at Timmins Public library)!

1) Discrimination is not always bad. The word picked up negative connotations in my lifetime, and many folks currently unconsciously interpret it or use it *only* to mean a bad thing. Other folks, use it without the negative baggage, either to make a point, or because they learned the original meaning of the term and have stuck with it. Don't let those different uses of that word cause you to get your wires crossed in this discussion. See here for what I think are crossed wires post 52.

2) Some opinions I have developed over the years that I hope will complement artK's well-written observations:

If you are ever asked to influence how limited resources should be used, at some point along the spectrum of contexts that range from family, to neighborhood, to community, to region, to society, you will almost certainly find that you don't have enough resources to solve, accomplish, satisfy, and act on the important problems, goals, needs and imperatives those resources can be applied to.

Along those lines, in this thread, I think I have seen explicit or implicit references and allusions to:
  • Offering equal opportunity to all ___
  • Acting on a moral imperative
  • Satisfying ___ named need
  • Countering current ___ imbalances
  • Preventing ___ failures
  • Nurturing above-average ___ performers
  • Influencing future ___

Well, in my opinion, they (and any similar attitudes) all deserve a seat at the table. However, until someone convinces me that they know where the magic bag of unlimited resources is, I believe that each choice to invest in one is a choice to reduce the investment in the others. If I'm in the right ballpark with this sort of outlook, then some posts in this thread are simultaneously 100% right, and 100% wrong.

In my opinion, there is no one true cause that trumps the rest; and there is no universally "fair" approach to allocating resources. It's all a compromise.

Something important to someone always falls below the line; and the compromises that are made in pursuit of various important topics will almost always appear to be poor choices when viewed through other topics' lenses, or when viewed at an inappropriate scale.

So, if my thesis is still in the right ballpark, let's remember that in this thread, we are discussing both ideals and implementations. While those ideals might exist in black and white perfection; in the real world, with very rare exception, they can only be implemented as compromises in shades of gray.

Blake

PS:[LESS SERIOUS]The last I heard, there were 9000 virtual signatures on the virtual petition. If all 9000 petitioners had each endowed some trustworthy steward with 50 cents, the total would be $4500.

Regardless of what the library's financial situation is, with that much cash, the petitioner could be collaborating right now with the library to expand the library's plans to include not only a summer program for boys (and at-risk girls?) that would use robots to trick the boys (would robots be a good lure for girls?) into visiting the library and doing summer reading; but also a program that would would form a competitive coed robotics club focused on inspiring students to consider STEM careers, and a program that would create a STEM club that would offer less-outgoing girls (and boys?) a nurturing environment in which they could thrive.[/LESS SERIOUS]
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Blake Ross, For emailing me, in the verizon.net domain, I am blake
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Words/phrases I avoid: basis, mitigate, leveraging, transitioning, impact (instead of affect/effect), facilitate, programmatic, problematic, issue (instead of problem), latency (instead of delay), dependency (instead of prerequisite), connectivity, usage & utilize (instead of use), downed, functionality, functional, power on, descore, alumni (instead of alumnus/alumna), the enterprise, methodology, nomenclature, form factor (instead of size or shape), competency, modality, provided(with), provision(ing), irregardless/irrespective, signage, colorized, pulsating, ideate

Last edited by gblake : 03-07-2015 at 21:18.
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