I also know this feeling! I think if more people knew did, they would be more supportive of urban green spaces. It's always remarkable to ride my bike through a paved residential area and then cut through this green alleyway-- the temperature and air is so fresh and feels 5 degrees cooler than the street.
It's not quite what you mean, but a woman in Ireland has planted over 1000 trees on her 3-acre plot, which was previously overrun with rushes and thought to be barren.
While less common in domestic kitchens, "raised" dishwashers are a thing. A friend of mine designed his dream kitchen and his dishwasher (just a standard domestic dishwasher) is at about hip height, next to the cabinets where dishes are stored and above the drawers that house heavier pots and pans.
That's a common professional setup, steel bench top with dishwasher with two side doors that both lift upwards at the same time.
Washers coarse sluice dishes and stack them in a circular rack on the bench, then use horizontal handle at front of washer to lift both the door on the left and the one on the right, the internal circular rack of freshly cleaned dishes is pulled out along the bench on one side, the just filled rack of dirty dishes is slid in on other side to replace, doors down, washer on, unstack clean dishes and move the empty rack back to the sink to start sluicing and stacking just arrived dirty dishes.
Repeat for three hours, then clean down kitchen and go home.
I feel very lucky to have had very talented and passionate teachers in my K-12 education. Their enthusiasm for their subjects was infectious!
I'm currently tutoring a pupil who isn't so lucky. Trying to get her interested in the dry material that she has to do is by far one of the greatest challenges and has required me to generate an interest in it that I can pass on to her.
This blog was created in 2004 which coincides with the peak of Alton Brown's show "Good Eats" and the introduction of more "scientific cooking". Perhaps the name was inspired by that? Though the "about" section on the webpage claims the name was chosen without too much consideration.
> About the name: Cooking For Engineers
Michael selected the name "Cooking For Engineers" on a whim. He has no idea if it means "To cook for the purposes of providing engineers with food" or "To instruct engineers in the science and art of cooking". He likes the ambiguity, and other people seem to find the name intriguing and even interesting. He regrets that the name can be misread (when in a rush) to be "Cooking Foreigners".
This is just some food for thought, but I think taking a scientific approach to home cooking can make it more accessible to men. By that I mean: making home cooking seem less like caregiving and more like "rational science" legitimizes it as a masculine activity. Thus allowing men to enjoy it, judgment-free.
> We demand diversity and inclusivity, but somehow the more "able-bodied neurotypical white heterosexual male" checkboxes you tick, the less your opinion and well-being matters. (And I only tick two of those)
Let's look at this more from a structural view: "Able-bodied neurotypical white heterosexual male" is the assumed default in "Western" society. What do I mean by that? White neurotypical heterosexual men built society for others in their demographic. Rights for women, POC, LGBTQIA people, neurodivergent, and disabled people, etc. have always been secondary.
On a systemic level, I do not agree with you that WNTHSM (I'm not writing that out again) are less valued than other groups. Let's just look at healthcare. Men make up the majority of participants in medical studies[1], black patients are perceived as more able to cope with pain[2]. Let's look at the law: Women could not open bank accounts without their husbands' permission in the US until 1974 under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. Insurance will often cover viagra, but not birth control. Look up anything about redlining and read about how black people couldn't get fair loans to buy homes.
We all have to navigate systems in life: educational, judicial, healthcare, financial systems, etc... I would guess you don't face as much/the same adversity navigating as someone belonging to zero of the five mentioned demographics, likewise it's harder for you than for those belonging to 5/5 demographics. How can you make a system work for more people? By involving them when redesigning the system.
I won't deny your feelings, but would ask you to consider specifically when you've felt your opinions and well-being do not matter.
Thank you for your thoughtful reply. I'll try to make it justice.
Let me start at the end.
> I won't deny your feelings, but would ask you to consider specifically when you've felt your opinions and well-being do not matter
First of all, every time I hear the word "mansplaining" -- and while the author of the linked article didn't use it verbatim, she was effectively complaining about it with more words. "Mansplaining" reads as the most superficial dismissal of somebody's opinion, as it instantly disregards a person's whole argument based on a birth trait. It's not any more noble or justified than brushing aside somebody's opinion as being done by a "hysterical woman", a term that is thankfully relegated to the past.
But it goes well beyond that, so let me illustrate with a couple of examples. A few weeks ago there was an event where an attorney would share some insights into the local cycling laws and what to do in the event of a crash. I wanted to attend, but was denied because the event was part of a women's cycling month initiative. It was a webinar, for goodness' sake.
Another example: people online have criticized me for attending a Japanese festival with my family. Apparently being a white father of two Japanese children is some sort of a sin and my presence in the festival is some form of "cultural appropriation". I jokingly asked what percentage of Japanese ancestry is required to attend, and whether or not my hypothetical 25% Japanese grandchildren would be allowed to attend or not. It goes without saying, the people criticizing this family event were... drum-roll please... not Japanese.
I need to run to take care of my kids now, but let me make a quick observation: I have felt far more social discrimination for being male than I have ever received for being queer, disabled, or an immigrant. And it's not just that being male means you are explicitly forbidden from some groups/activities, it's also that the same people that act deeply indignant at other forms of racism and sexism quickly turn into gatekeepers that openly and proudly discriminate against men.
A lot of my thoughts are dependent on geographical location, culture, etc.
> "Mansplaining" reads as the most superficial dismissal of somebody's opinion, as it instantly disregards a person's whole argument based on a birth trait. It's not any more noble or justified than brushing aside somebody's opinion as being done by a "hysterical woman", a term that is thankfully relegated to the past.
Mansplaining is less about "birth traits" and more about socialization. A lot of women experience it. That being said, I'm sure people misuse it as a killerphrase. Side note: the "hysterical woman" idea is prevalent where I live. This may be one of the reasons that women's pain is often neglected or not taken seriously by clinical staff[1].
> people online have criticized me for attending a Japanese festival with my family.
Whoever said that is being overzealous: cultural appreciation is not the same as appropriation, plus cultural festivals are usually about sharing cultures. But on your part, it's online. Why let that into your life?
> I have felt far more social discrimination for being male than I have ever received for being queer, disabled, or an immigrant. And it's not just that being male means you are explicitly forbidden from some groups/activities, it's also that the same people that act deeply indignant at other forms of racism and sexism quickly turn into gatekeepers that openly and proudly discriminate against men.
I'm sorry you've experienced that. I can understand "women's only" activities, e.g. yoga classes or career events. TBH, my local yoga studio also offers a men's only course. In my experience women's only activities/group are about helping women gain their confidence, esp. when they are a minority in a larger group. Perhaps those were the motivations behind the women's cycling webinar?
Analogously, I think groups for men working in jobs typically associated with women, e.g. child-care are also important.
> A good engineer thinks abstractly in terms of designing and building systems, they think in terms of algorithms, components, and engineering design. They do not necessarily know all of the details of syntax of a given language, especially if they are used to a good IDE which does it for them...
Interviewing sucks, but on the other hand it's really hard to test system design during an interview. There are lots of algorithms, data structures, design patterns, and language features that could be asked about. That being said, experienced Java programmers will know where List is located, even if they've been using an IDE for years.
> Even the Java Certification Exams tend to focus on questions of syntax and compilation as opposed to either how well you can actually program or how well you can design a system.
Yeah, because it's about showing familiarity with the language and it's features in a way that is inexpensive to grade.
Complex sentences and uncommon words obfuscate meaning, when they should be conveying. I feel this needless complexity is often treated like country-club dues; you need to use it to belong.
Patrick Henry Winston was well known his achievements in machine learning, but also for his yearly lectures on communication. His book "Make it Clear" is full of great lessons, which have improved my writing/speaking. As basic as it sounds, considering my audience and intent have greatly improved my ability to express my ideas.
I don't have any experience with Chatbot tutors, but I have used ChatGPT to troubleshoot problems. Most of the time, it hasn't helped me directly, e.g. solutions were incorrect, weird, or overly complicated. However, explaining my problem was helpful.
I also have experience tutoring struggling school students. The impact of emotional intelligence when tutoring cannot be overstated-- in many cases you'll have to work on improving low self-efficacy. Building a trusting relationship is very important to this process; knowing when to push your pupil or back off is vital to being a good tutor.
Will a great chatbot ever replace a tutor? I don't know.
