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hexyl_C_guttoday at 6:28 PM7 repliesview on HN

If this form of discrimination is ok, can we get other filters?


Replies

glouwbugtoday at 6:32 PM

Women's only gyms and hours exist already. If there's a need, and they feel safer this way, let them have it

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paxystoday at 6:43 PM

Do you think having women's only bathrooms is discrimination as well?

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john_strinlaitoday at 7:10 PM

what are some example discriminatory filters you want, and what is your reasoning for wanting them?

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nouttoday at 6:54 PM

I think as a society we moved away from trying to say that women are exactly the same as men in every aspect, so this change seems reasonable to me.

slowmovintargettoday at 7:21 PM

Are you saying it's not acceptable for a woman to choose a female driver over a male driver for a sense of her own safety?

Deep breath in... There are two types of discrimination. Paraphrasing Thomas Sowell, let's call them Type I and Type II.

Type II discrimination is the evil awful kind we rightfully rail against. It is "treating people negatively, based on arbitrary aversions or animosities to individuals of a particular race or sex..."

Type I discrimination is of the broader sort; "an ability to discern differences in the qualities of people and things, choosing accordingly." We run our lives with this kind of discrimination: is this food safe to eat? is this activity safe to participate in? do I trust this person given what I know about them?

>> Ideally, Discrimination I, applied to people, would mean judging each person as an individual, regardless of what group that person is part of. But here, as in other contexts, the ideal is seldom found among human beings in the real world, even among people who espouse that ideal. If you are walking at night down a lonely street, and see up ahead a shadowy figure in an alley, do you judge that person as an individual or do you cross the street and pass on the other side? The shadowy figure in the alley could turn out to be a kindly neighbor, out walking his dog. But, when making such decisions, a mistake on your part could be costly, up to and including costing you your life. [1]

This kind of discrimination is what we're talking about. I'd venture that not only is it OK, it is necessary. In this case, men that have had no background check, and whose form of employment is as an Uber driver are more likely to harass women (or do worse) than a female driver. Allowing women to make a selection based on this likelihood means that female customers that are alone can make choices to still use the service while reducing the overall risk.

Mitigation of this risk in normal taxi services take the form of background checks, bonds, and a chain of responsibility running from employer to employee to customer. It places more risk on the employer deliberately. Uber deliberately chooses to avoid this risk and responsibility. That choice is baked into their business model. That means enabling this kind of discrimination from their customers is a required feature of the service.

[1] Discrimination and Disparities, by Thomas Sowell

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xenospntoday at 6:33 PM

This is as discriminatory as choosing strawberry ice cream over chocolate. To say, not at all.

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