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Comment by tim_hutton | Hacker News Reader

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tim_hutton·

Fixed: "The Person Who Will Build Google's Quantum Computer"

I wish Wired would only mention the sex of the person if it was relevant.

Edit: Do we casually mention someone's skin color, when it's not relevant?

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Don't be daft. It might be possible to take you seriously if anyone, ever, had made the same complaint about an article entitled "The Woman Who Will XYZ". In fact, such articles are celebrated as encouraging more STEM awareness and participation by women, providing positive role models, and other benefits -- which I fully support.

What's the problem? Using "The Man" seems just fine (and pretty common): https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=the+man%2C+the...

Saying "the man" or "the woman" is much more informative than saying "the person" in a title, especially in an article that is as much about character as about research.

Much more informative? Really? You consider the gender of the subject to be that crucial in determining your classification of their character?

I consider the race to remove all description of a person really weird. Novels often detail down to the number of liver spots a character has, but in non-fiction, identifying race, skin color, fitness, etc., always draws a comment upset by the inclusion of identifying characteristics.

Especially when it comes to names from cultures I am not native to, a quick description of sex, age, build, and background gives me a picture of a person my brain would search for otherwise - because without a picture of the person (there isn't always one) I want the non-fiction narrative to be just as engaging as the fiction.

Yes. We humans base our judgement and evaluation of people on appearances. Sex is one of the first classifications we apply. Absolutely crucial in forming an impression.

Somehow this rubbed me the wrong way too. Not sure why really.

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