Update: Google has fired the engineer who authored the memo. On Monday, the author of the memo told The New York Times he would “likely be pursuing legal action.”

Over the weekend, a manifesto written by a male Google software engineer set off a firestorm on social media for its claims that women are underrepresented in the technology sector because of inherent psychological differences between men and women, not bias.

The 10-page document titled “Google’s Ideological Echo Chamber” drew strong reactions from within and outside the company where it was first widely shared among employees before it was leaked to Gizmodo, an online tech blog.

It begins like so:

I value diversity and inclusion, am not denying that sexism exists, and don’t endorse using stereotypes. When addressing the gap in representation in the population, we need to look at population level differences in distributions. If we can’t have an honest discussion about this, then we can never truly solve the problem. Psychological safety is built on mutual respect and acceptance, but unfortunately our culture of shaming and misrepresentation is disrespectful and unaccepting of anyone outside its echo chamber. Despite what the public response seems to have been, I’ve gotten many personal messages from fellow Googlers expressing their gratitude for bringing up these very important issues which they agree with but would never have the courage to say or defend because of our shaming culture and the possibility of being fired. This needs to change.

And it includes a simplified TL;DR version, with six concise bullet points.

Google’s political bias has equated the freedom from offense with psychological safety, but shaming into silence is the antithesis of psychological safety.

This silencing has created an ideological echo chamber where some ideas are too sacred to be honestly discussed.

The lack of discussion fosters the most extreme and authoritarian elements of this ideology.

Extreme: all disparities in representation are due to oppression

Authoritarian: we should discriminate to correct for this oppression

Differences in distributions of traits between men and women may in part explain why we don’t have 50% representation of women in tech and leadership. Discrimination to reach equal representation is unfair, divisive, and bad for business.

Mike Isaac, a reporter for The New York Times, said the memo has caused “an internal nightmare for higher ups” at Google.

https://twitter.com/MikeIsaac/status/894607301050486784

Little is known about the author apart from his job title and gender, but in the memo he criticized Google for creating a culture that welcomes some ideas but rejects others.

“Only facts and reason can shed light on these biases, but when it comes to diversity and inclusion, Google’s left bias has created a politically correct monoculture that maintains its hold by shaming dissenters into silence,” he wrote.

One example of those ideas not widely accepted at the company, he argued, is the concept that biological differences between men and women help explain why there are not enough women in leadership positions in the technology sector — a problem that has dogged other tech giants like Uber.

The document drew reactions from all points of view, some liberal and some conservative, on the heels of a national conversation about equal pay and representation of women and people of color.

The memo was immediately criticized as sexist, with some calling for the engineer to be fired. But some people defended the author of the memo and slammed the criticism as political correctness run amok.

Criticism of the engineer was rampant.

https://twitter.com/Spacekatgal/status/893907574415736832

https://twitter.com/Belairviv/status/894590395132370944

https://twitter.com/katie_womers/status/893981071435366400

But some people aimed their criticism elsewhere.

https://twitter.com/monkwest/status/894272171509510144

https://twitter.com/ignoranthominid/status/894089223136870400

https://twitter.com/AustenAllred/status/894229365814317056

Danielle Brown, Google’s new vice president for diversity and inclusion, on Sunday pushed back against the memo’s “incorrect assumptions about gender” but also sided with safeguarding “alternative views.”

“Part of building an open, inclusive environment means fostering a culture in which those with alternative views, including different political views, feel safe sharing their opinions,” Brown said in a statement.

The memo has emerged as Google faces a lawsuit from the U.S. Labor Department that seeks salary data and documents. The government is accusing the company of extreme gender pay discrimination at a time when the social norms are being challenged nationwide in politics and the workplace.

The manifesto raises the important question of whether people should be shamed for holding unpopular beliefs and ideas or whether they should be welcomed. Read the full manifesto here and be the judge.

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Email: luis.gomez@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @RunGomez

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UPDATES:

8:40 a.m.: This article was updated with additional details.

This article was originally published Aug. 7 at 12:50 p.m.