WEBVTT 00:00:07.309 --> 00:00:09.830 Welcome back everybody. This is Food for Thought 00:00:09.830 --> 00:00:13.830 with Thoughts If It Were You by Neogentrics. We're 00:00:13.830 --> 00:00:16.429 finishing up on the moral series. I do believe 00:00:16.429 --> 00:00:18.210 I have two here for you we're going to cover 00:00:18.210 --> 00:00:20.890 tonight in this episode and the next episode, 00:00:20.969 --> 00:00:23.449 which will then leave us with about 1, 2, 3, 00:00:23.649 --> 00:00:28.289 4, 5, 6, 7 of them left. So, look forward to 00:00:28.289 --> 00:00:30.210 those. Tonight we're going to go ahead and cover 00:00:30.210 --> 00:00:34.149 fairness. By definition, that is the impartial 00:00:34.149 --> 00:00:36.509 or just treatment or behavior without favoritism 00:00:36.509 --> 00:00:39.750 or discrimination. The quality of having light 00:00:39.750 --> 00:00:44.310 -colored hair or a pale complexion. I don't know 00:00:44.310 --> 00:00:46.609 really how the second definition of this word 00:00:46.609 --> 00:00:49.909 meets in comparison, but at the same time, it 00:00:49.909 --> 00:00:54.320 makes up a very valid point. Fairness... In all 00:00:54.320 --> 00:00:57.820 honesty means to treat everyone equally, okay? 00:00:58.000 --> 00:01:01.979 This also applies to your skin color, your race, 00:01:02.240 --> 00:01:06.560 how you do things, basically everybody. But at 00:01:06.560 --> 00:01:09.959 this point, talking about racism is basically 00:01:09.959 --> 00:01:13.819 a mute point. But for some people out there who 00:01:13.819 --> 00:01:15.200 don't even know what the difference between being 00:01:15.200 --> 00:01:19.799 racist is and the difference in being fair... 00:01:20.590 --> 00:01:23.569 I'm going to cover fairness tonight. I will cover 00:01:23.569 --> 00:01:26.849 racism at a later date. There's a lot of things 00:01:26.849 --> 00:01:29.370 and a lot of aspects that go into that, but we 00:01:29.370 --> 00:01:33.150 will worry about that later. This is a fairly 00:01:33.150 --> 00:01:37.049 short topic for this moral series, but we're 00:01:37.049 --> 00:01:38.670 going to go ahead and go into it and get started. 00:01:41.319 --> 00:01:44.500 Fairness is one of those values that Americans 00:01:44.500 --> 00:01:48.359 love to expose. It's just as beloved in technical 00:01:48.359 --> 00:01:51.079 circles where it's often introduced as one of 00:01:51.079 --> 00:01:54.620 the things that neutral computers do. We collectively 00:01:54.620 --> 00:01:57.900 perceive ourselves and our systems to be fair 00:01:57.900 --> 00:02:00.620 and push against any assertions that our practices 00:02:00.620 --> 00:02:05.480 are unfair. But what do we even mean by fairness 00:02:05.480 --> 00:02:08.639 in the first place? One of the things you have 00:02:08.639 --> 00:02:10.919 to think about. In the United States, fairness 00:02:10.919 --> 00:02:13.259 has historically been a battle between equality 00:02:13.259 --> 00:02:17.379 and equity. Equality is the notion that everyone 00:02:17.379 --> 00:02:19.840 should have an equal opportunity. It's the core 00:02:19.840 --> 00:02:25.219 of the meteorocracy and central to the American 00:02:25.219 --> 00:02:37.900 dream that everyone wants to have. of corruption 00:02:37.900 --> 00:02:41.939 and yet as civil rights leaders have long argued 00:02:41.939 --> 00:02:45.300 we don't all start out from the same place okay 00:02:45.300 --> 00:02:49.599 uh privilege does matter but to a point i'm gonna 00:02:49.599 --> 00:02:52.800 go ahead and say that right now as a result we've 00:02:52.800 --> 00:02:55.400 seen historical battles over equity arguing and 00:02:55.400 --> 00:02:58.979 fairness is only possible when we take into account 00:03:00.650 --> 00:03:03.770 systemic marginalism, and differences of ability, 00:03:04.009 --> 00:03:07.150 opportunity, and access. You know, when civil 00:03:07.150 --> 00:03:11.250 rights leaders fought for equity in the 60s, 00:03:11.250 --> 00:03:15.430 they were labeled communists, basically. Still, 00:03:15.689 --> 00:03:19.090 equity -based concepts like affirmative action 00:03:19.090 --> 00:03:28.810 managed to gain traction even today. i'm gonna 00:03:28.810 --> 00:03:31.490 go ahead and pause for a second and define the 00:03:31.490 --> 00:03:33.310 word equity so that you know the difference between 00:03:33.310 --> 00:03:36.210 equity and equality equity is the quality of 00:03:36.210 --> 00:03:39.409 being fair and impartial the value of the shares 00:03:39.409 --> 00:03:43.729 issued by a company as a good example okay and 00:03:43.729 --> 00:03:45.909 the reason i bring that up is while everyone 00:03:45.909 --> 00:03:48.889 thinks that equality is the next best thing you 00:03:48.889 --> 00:03:51.949 need to consider equity as a result as well equality 00:03:51.949 --> 00:03:55.250 means everyone is the same which is fine but 00:03:55.949 --> 00:03:58.409 In terms of equity, which in terms of being fair, 00:03:58.569 --> 00:04:02.009 say you have three people, a tall person, a medium 00:04:02.009 --> 00:04:05.349 person, and a short person, and there's three 00:04:05.349 --> 00:04:07.050 boxes there, and you're trying to look over the 00:04:07.050 --> 00:04:09.330 fence to see the baseball game. Equality states 00:04:09.330 --> 00:04:11.669 that everybody gets a box so that everybody can 00:04:11.669 --> 00:04:14.849 see. However, the only problem is only the tall 00:04:14.849 --> 00:04:16.949 person and the medium -sized person can see, 00:04:17.029 --> 00:04:18.769 whereas the short person can barely see over 00:04:18.769 --> 00:04:21.509 the top of the fence. Equity states that we give 00:04:21.509 --> 00:04:23.629 one box to the medium person so he can at least 00:04:23.629 --> 00:04:25.430 see because the tall person can already see, 00:04:25.529 --> 00:04:28.050 and put two boxes underneath the short person. 00:04:29.089 --> 00:04:30.970 That's the difference between equity and equality. 00:04:31.730 --> 00:04:35.019 Okay? Going back into what I was saying, today 00:04:35.019 --> 00:04:37.399 we've shifted from communism to socialism as 00:04:37.399 --> 00:04:42.819 the anti -equity justification. Many purposefully 00:04:42.819 --> 00:04:44.600 refuse to acknowledge that people don't start 00:04:44.600 --> 00:04:46.939 out from the same position and take offense at 00:04:46.939 --> 00:04:49.139 any effort to right historical wrongs through 00:04:49.139 --> 00:04:52.480 equity -based models. Affirmative action continues 00:04:52.480 --> 00:04:55.720 to be dismantled, and the very notion of reparation 00:04:55.720 --> 00:04:59.860 sends many into, as they say, a tizzy. Beyond 00:04:59.860 --> 00:05:01.699 the cultural fight over equity and equality, 00:05:02.060 --> 00:05:04.720 a new battle to define fairness has emerged. 00:05:04.779 --> 00:05:11.800 Long normative in business and a market logic 00:05:11.800 --> 00:05:14.819 of fairness is moving beyond industry to increasingly 00:05:14.819 --> 00:05:17.579 become more normative understanding of fairness 00:05:17.579 --> 00:05:20.259 in America. I mean, the difference between the 00:05:20.259 --> 00:05:26.120 two is enormous, okay? Let me go ahead and cover 00:05:26.120 --> 00:05:28.819 this. To understand market -driven models of 00:05:28.819 --> 00:05:31.899 fairness, consider frequent flyer programs. If 00:05:31.899 --> 00:05:36.800 you are a high status on Delta, you get all sorts 00:05:36.800 --> 00:05:39.620 of privileges. You don't have to pay $25 to check 00:05:39.620 --> 00:05:42.699 in a bag. You get better seats, frequent upgrades. 00:05:42.839 --> 00:05:45.560 You get free food and extra services, yada, yada, 00:05:45.579 --> 00:05:48.540 yada. We consider this fair because it enables 00:05:48.540 --> 00:05:52.399 business to compete. However, Delta cares to 00:05:52.399 --> 00:05:55.149 keep you as a customer base. because they rely 00:05:55.149 --> 00:05:57.189 on you spending a lot of money over the year 00:05:57.189 --> 00:06:01.129 or through a lifetime of program than you cost 00:06:01.129 --> 00:06:06.670 in terms of perks. So, let's say a guy named 00:06:06.670 --> 00:06:11.850 Bob. On the other hand, he isn't that interested 00:06:11.850 --> 00:06:15.569 to Delta. If he only flies once a year and isn't 00:06:15.569 --> 00:06:18.490 even eligible for the credit card, thus Bob doesn't 00:06:18.490 --> 00:06:21.230 get the perks and is, in effect, charged more 00:06:21.230 --> 00:06:24.410 for the equivalent services. Now how's that fair? 00:06:26.189 --> 00:06:29.089 What happens when this logic of fairness alters 00:06:29.089 --> 00:06:31.689 the foundations of society? Consider your financial 00:06:31.689 --> 00:06:34.509 services where businesses rub up against something 00:06:34.509 --> 00:06:37.470 so practical and seemingly necessary such as 00:06:37.470 --> 00:06:42.250 housing. Okay? Martha Poon has done phenomenal 00:06:42.250 --> 00:06:45.189 work in the history of the FICO scores, which 00:06:45.189 --> 00:06:47.290 originally empowered new populations to gain 00:06:47.290 --> 00:06:50.730 access to credit. Nowadays... I'm pretty sure 00:06:50.730 --> 00:06:53.069 I'm butchering the word, but FICO, F -I -C -O, 00:06:53.269 --> 00:06:55.990 whatever, scores are used for many things beyond 00:06:55.990 --> 00:06:57.829 financial services, but even in the financial 00:06:57.829 --> 00:07:01.649 services domain, things aren't as equitable as 00:07:01.649 --> 00:07:03.850 one might think. The scores are not necessarily 00:07:03.850 --> 00:07:06.569 fair, and their uses introduces new problems. 00:07:07.899 --> 00:07:09.699 If you're seeking a loan and you have a better 00:07:09.699 --> 00:07:12.319 score than Bob, then you may pay a lower interest. 00:07:13.240 --> 00:07:16.019 This is considered acceptable because you are 00:07:16.019 --> 00:07:18.699 at a lower risk than Bob. But just like Delta 00:07:18.699 --> 00:07:21.120 wants to keep you as a customer, so does Chase. 00:07:21.980 --> 00:07:24.500 And so they start to give you deals to compete 00:07:24.500 --> 00:07:26.540 with other banks for your business. In effect, 00:07:26.779 --> 00:07:29.860 they minimize the profit they make directly off 00:07:29.860 --> 00:07:31.899 of the wealthiest because they need the high 00:07:31.899 --> 00:07:33.839 -end customers for secondary competitive reasons. 00:07:34.100 --> 00:07:37.199 As a result, Not only is Bob burdened with the 00:07:37.199 --> 00:07:39.720 higher interest loans, but all the profits are 00:07:39.720 --> 00:07:45.459 also made off of him as well. So, it's basically 00:07:45.459 --> 00:07:49.879 a win -lose system. Fairness has taken the place 00:07:49.879 --> 00:07:52.939 of a lot of things in life, and while it may 00:07:52.939 --> 00:07:56.939 seem like it's fair, in honesty, it's probably 00:07:56.939 --> 00:08:05.879 not. So, The most important thing we all need 00:08:05.879 --> 00:08:09.079 to recognize is that how fairness is instantiated 00:08:09.079 --> 00:08:12.920 significantly affects the very architecture of 00:08:12.920 --> 00:08:15.699 our society. I regularly come back to the quote 00:08:15.699 --> 00:08:20.980 by Alistair Crowell. Our social safety net is 00:08:20.980 --> 00:08:24.259 woven on uncertainty. We have welfare, insurance, 00:08:24.480 --> 00:08:26.939 and other institutions precisely because we can't 00:08:26.939 --> 00:08:30.959 tell what's going to happen. So we amortize the 00:08:30.959 --> 00:08:34.100 risk across... shared resources. The better we 00:08:34.100 --> 00:08:36.179 are at predicting the future, the less we'll 00:08:36.179 --> 00:08:39.399 be willing to share our fates with others. And 00:08:39.399 --> 00:08:41.639 the more those predictions look like facts, the 00:08:41.639 --> 00:08:45.039 more justice looks like thought crime. I mean, 00:08:45.039 --> 00:08:47.899 and he brings up a valid point. The more we try 00:08:47.899 --> 00:08:51.700 to be fair about everything, the more distrust, 00:08:51.700 --> 00:08:54.659 disinterest, and the more loyalty is lost as 00:08:54.659 --> 00:08:58.250 a result of it. the market -driven logic of fairness 00:08:58.250 --> 00:09:00.649 is fundamentally about individuals at the expense 00:09:00.649 --> 00:09:04.490 of the social fabric not surprising the tech 00:09:04.490 --> 00:09:07.049 industry very non -liberal in cultural ideology 00:09:07.049 --> 00:09:11.169 embraces market -driven fairness as the most 00:09:11.169 --> 00:09:13.190 desirable form of fairness because it is the 00:09:13.190 --> 00:09:16.230 model that is the most about individual empowerment 00:09:16.230 --> 00:09:19.090 but of course this form of empowerment is at 00:09:19.090 --> 00:09:23.139 the expense of others and significantly At the 00:09:23.139 --> 00:09:25.559 expense of those who all have been historically 00:09:25.559 --> 00:09:30.179 marginalized and ostracized as well. We are collectively 00:09:30.179 --> 00:09:33.679 architecting the technological infrastructure 00:09:33.679 --> 00:09:36.240 of this world. You know, I have a question for 00:09:36.240 --> 00:09:38.460 you. Are we okay with what we're doing and how 00:09:38.460 --> 00:09:41.440 will it affect the society around us? Think about 00:09:41.440 --> 00:09:44.940 this for a minute. You know, in all honesty, 00:09:45.080 --> 00:09:50.259 is being fair only about what... you can do where 00:09:50.259 --> 00:09:52.940 it benefits only you at the extreme of the other 00:09:52.940 --> 00:09:57.480 person and or should fairness be considered the 00:09:57.480 --> 00:10:01.340 equality of everybody to the point where equity 00:10:01.340 --> 00:10:05.200 isn't even a question whether it's equality versus 00:10:05.200 --> 00:10:09.559 equity shouldn't it be both basically this is 00:10:09.559 --> 00:10:11.720 a thought for a lot of people and something that 00:10:11.720 --> 00:10:14.440 a lot of people will not consider But it is a 00:10:14.440 --> 00:10:17.679 thing out here in this world nowadays. Much like 00:10:17.679 --> 00:10:20.419 the previous morals that we covered, fairness 00:10:20.419 --> 00:10:22.759 is one of the one that is leastly thought about. 00:10:22.980 --> 00:10:26.120 And what it is, you often hear the phrase, well 00:10:26.120 --> 00:10:28.379 that's true, but you know, the world's not fair. 00:10:28.919 --> 00:10:32.120 Nothing in the world is fair. I mean, just because 00:10:32.120 --> 00:10:36.059 he wins doesn't mean you will. And while I can 00:10:36.059 --> 00:10:38.950 understand everything is against the odds. As 00:10:38.950 --> 00:10:41.850 far as gambling and such, this doesn't generally 00:10:41.850 --> 00:10:45.990 apply to everybody. The world is fair. It's the 00:10:45.990 --> 00:10:49.389 people in it that aren't. Just because everyone 00:10:49.389 --> 00:10:51.690 else isn't playing fair doesn't mean you shouldn't 00:10:51.690 --> 00:10:55.610 either. And that is all I have to say on the 00:10:55.610 --> 00:10:57.809 topic of fairness as far as the Moral Series 00:10:57.809 --> 00:11:02.629 goes. So, with that, I thank you for listening. 00:11:02.950 --> 00:11:06.350 And tomorrow, which will be in a few minutes... 00:11:06.919 --> 00:11:10.340 we are going to cover acceptance. Enjoy the rest 00:11:10.340 --> 00:11:10.740 of your day.