On Sensitivity and Specificity

[Analytics]

In statistics, sensitivity means the propensity of a test to correctly identify something that is really there. It is the propensity to get “true positives.” In contrast, specificity is the propensity to correctly identify that something really isn’t there when it really isn’t there. It is the propensity to get “true negatives.”

Ideally you want to uses tests that have a high degree of sensitivity and a high degree of specificity—if the guy is guilty you want the test to say guilty, and if the guy is innocent you want to test to say not-guilty. But usually there is a tradeoff between the two—if I want to make sure every single criminal goes to jail, at least a few innocent people will be swept up in the raids. And if I want to make sure nobody gets wrongly convicted, some actual criminals will get away with it.

If I accuse Ajax of being a racist, there are a couple of possibilities:

1- He really is a racist, regardless of whether he admits to it or not.

2- He is not a racist, but because of my high sensitivity/low specificity in my radar, I misunderstand him and accuse him of something that he is not.

In the era of Trumpism, there are some awful, awful things being said and done in the name of “conservatism,” and such words and deeds ought to be called out, condemned, and censored. If somebody is saying and doing things that are detremental to basic American values, they ought to be held accountable.

But if a group of frustrated liberals are overly sensitive to Trumpism, they might lose too much specificity and wrongly censure and “cancel” reasonable conservative people and ideas that deserve to be heard and considered. Trumpism is in fact evil, but that doesn’t mitigate that it’s still wrong to condemn somebody as being an apologist for Trumpism when he really isn’t.

[Res Ipsa]

Was this prompted by some current or recent events?

[Some Schmo]

But if a group of frustrated liberals are overly sensitive to Trumpism, they might lose too much specificity and wrongly censure and “cancel” reasonable conservative people and ideas that deserve to be heard and considered. Trumpism is in fact evil, but that doesn’t mitigate that it’s still wrong to condemn somebody as being an apologist for Trumpism when he really isn’t.

Yes. I agree.

When I talk about the GOP, I try to be careful to specify which subgroup I'm talking about at the time. Being in the GOP base isn't exactly the same as being a Trump supporter. I also see a wide gulf between a traditional conservative and a Trumpist.

[Analytics]

Was this prompted by some current or recent events?

Of course.

My daughter went to a liberal liberal arts college, and noted that some of the kids there were over-the-top in some of their liberal righteous indignation about everything that was going on in the world. She told me stories about her fellow students getting into arguments about whether it was wrong to eat Chinese food because Chinese food in America isn't real Chinese food, and it is "cultural appropriation" to pretend it is Chinese and even to eat it without being Chinese yourself. My daughter was and still is quite liberal, and she carefully listened to these points of view, but sometimes she came away thinking that this was a bit too much, even for her.

She decided that it wasn't worth arguing about with such true believers, and would end up politely nodding and quietly walking away. The desire of these students to demand universal wokeness ended up having a chilling effect.

[Res Ipsa]

Yeah, that would do it.

[MeDotOrg]

Was this prompted by some current or recent events?

Of course.

My daughter went to a liberal liberal arts college, and noted that some of the kids there were over-the-top in some of their liberal righteous indignation about everything that was going on in the world. She told me stories about her fellow students getting into arguments about whether it was wrong to eat Chinese food because Chinese food in America isn't real Chinese food, and it is "cultural appropriation" to pretend it is Chinese and even to eat it without being Chinese yourself. My daughter was and still is quite liberal, and she carefully listened to these points of view, but sometimes she came away thinking that this was a bit too much, even for her.

She decided that it wasn't worth arguing about with such true believers, and would end up politely nodding and quietly walking away. The desire of these students to demand universal wokeness ended up having a chilling effect.

There is an idea that assimilation is expropriation. Are we a melting pot or a salad? The idea that your food choices should somehow be limited to your culture of origin is both ridiculous and sad. Culturally, I agree with Picasso: "Lesser artists borrow, great artists steal." Should Yo-Yo Ma not play the cello because it is an instrument of Western Culture? When someone says "Chinese Culture", they should realize they are not talking about a static object that has existed in perpetuity. Chinese culture itself is a product of change and assimilation.

I've always thought it was appropriate that Jazz is considered the original American art form, where you can borrow from anyone, do your own thing, and yet simultaneously be part of a whole. There IS no definitive Jazz form. You can like frenetic BeBop or cool Modal. The concept of World Music is pretty much the same: You celebrate all the things you can bring together.

How is the fear of 'Cultural Appropriation' that much different from 'Replacement Theory'?

[Res Ipsa]

Well, one is about preserving a dominant culture by excluding people based on their culture. The other is about preserving a non-dominant culture by preventing its dilution.

That being said, I really haven't thought about the whole cultural appropriation thing. There's always tension in the whole melting pot idea, and I'm not sure how that should play out. If everyone assimilates to the dominant culture (with some variation around the edge of the pot), I think we lose something. If we all huddle in our current cultures, I think we lose something. I've never had an Asian person suggest that I shouldn't eat Asian food because I'm disrespecting their culture by doing so. It sounds kinda contrived, but if someone ever does, I'll ask them about it. On the other hand, I see nothing wrong with the Hop's closing their villages to outsiders when they perform their ceremonies. I suspect the whole issue looks different depending n how dominant one's culture is.

[honorentheos]

Appropriation is a concept that I don't think deserves blanket approaches. Is the world better off for cultural blending? Yeah. Without question the combining of cultural artifacts in novel ways is the very essence of the creative process. Can it be insensitive and marginalize originators while elevating the borrower as some form of creative genius as they stand on someone else's cultural shoulders? Yeah, that's part of it, too. It can venture into tokenism, caricature, and offensive stereotyping just as easily as it evolves into the blues and on into rock and roll. Actually, that's a reasonable example of the good and bad aspects of jt. Either way, civilization is not going to be better off for the militant approach to exclusion one sees bandied around on the outrage internet and as was described in the OP.

It's an issue that deserves more nuanced thinking, respectful consideration, and a plurality of voices...with a healthy dose of the creative Screw you that drives innovation, too. But this is now, and we are us. So.

[Res Ipsa]

Appropriation is a concept that I don't think deserves blanket approaches. Is the world better off for cultural blending? Yeah. Without question the combining of cultural artifacts in novel ways is the very essence of the creative process. Can it be insensitive and marginalize originators while elevating the borrower as some form of creative genius as they stand on someone else's cultural shoulders? Yeah, that's part of it, too. It can venture into tokenism, caricature, and offensive stereotyping just as easily as it evolves into the blues and on into rock and roll. Actually, that's a reasonable example of the good and bad aspects of jt. Either way, civilization is not going to be better off for the militant approach to exclusion one sees bandied around on the outrage internet and as was described in the OP.

It's an issue that deserves more nuanced thinking, respectful consideration, and a plurality of voices...with a healthy dose of the creative Screw you that drives innovation, too. But this is now, and we are us. So.

Bonus points for "creative Screw you that drives innovation." Well said.

[Moksha]

I've never had an Asian person suggest that I shouldn't eat Asian food because I'm disrespecting their culture by doing so.

Asian restaurant owners appreciate you being a customer. No matter the imbalance of trade with China, there is a Chinese restaurant in most of small-town USA. People love Chinese food.

Remember when that Utah girl caught a lot of social media grief because she wore a Chinese-style dress to her prom? Asians came to her defense.