Brandon brings up the excellent point that ableism is essentially baked into the computer science field. Our community, as a leader in CS education with a “welcome, friendly […] for all” ethos (Code of Conduct convenience link: http://software-carpentry.org/conduct/ <http://software-carpentry.org/conduct/>), is perhaps uniquely well-suited to begin eliminating the use of this kind of exclusionary language as standard practice.
If you would like to read some thoughts on why ableist language is exclusionary, I found this primer useful (http://everydayfeminism.com/2014/11/ableist-language-matters/ <http://everydayfeminism.com/2014/11/ableist-language-matters/>). Thank you especially to Pauline, Tracy, Elizabeth, and Abie for your thoughtfulness on this issue. Best, Mike -- Michael Koontz — website <http://michaeljkoontz.weebly.com/> ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-8276-210X <http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8276-210X> Graduate Group in Ecology Plant and Environmental Sciences <https://www.google.com/maps/place/Plant+and+Environmental+Sciences+Bldg,+University+of+California,+Davis,+Davis,+CA+95616/@38.5427751,-121.7570251,16z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x808529085c693a13:0xe20b0046ee4eb4f7>, Room 2211 University of California, Davis Davis, CA 95616 > On Oct 6, 2016, at 6:52 PM, Brandon Curtis <[email protected]> wrote: > > The term "sanity check" has an established definition in computer science. > > via https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanity_check > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanity_check>: > > "A sanity test or sanity check is a basic test to quickly evaluate whether a > claim or the result of a calculation can possibly be true. It is a simple > check to see if the produced material is rational (that the material's > creator was thinking rationally, applying sanity). The point of a sanity test > is to rule out certain classes of obviously false results, not to catch every > possible error. A rule-of-thumb may be checked to perform the test. The > advantage of a sanity test, over performing a complete or rigorous test, is > speed." > > In computer science, a sanity test is a very brief run-through of the > functionality of a computer program, system, calculation, or other analysis, > to assure that part of the system or methodology works roughly as expected. > This is often prior to a more exhaustive round of testing. In computer > science, a sanity test is a very brief run-through of the functionality of a > computer program, system, calculation, or other analysis, to assure that part > of the system or methodology works roughly as expected. This is often prior > to a more exhaustive round of testing." > > Another, possibly more common usage of 'sanity test' is to denote checks > which are performed within program code, usually on arguments to functions or > returns therefrom, to see if the answers can be assumed to be correct." > > -- Brandon > > > On Wed, Oct 5, 2016 at 11:02 AM, Abraham D. Flaxman <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > Thank you for this thoughtful comment on the language we are using. I have > been thinking about this in terms of “check your work”. This is a core > competency for problem solving, and what I want SWC to add is the idea that > in computational research we can and should check our work automatically. > > > > --Abie > > > > > > Abraham D. Flaxman > > Assistant Professor > > Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation | University of Washington > > 2301 5th Avenue, Suite 600 | Seattle, WA 98121| USA > > Tel: +1-206-897-2802 | Mobile: +1-412-726-0401 <tel:%2B1-412-726-0401> | Fax: > +1-206-897-2899 UW | Campus Mailbox: 358210 > > [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> | http://healthmetricsandevaluation.org > <http://healthmetricsandevaluation.org/>| http://healthyalgorithms.com > <http://healthyalgorithms.com/> > > > <> > From: Discuss [mailto:[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>] On Behalf Of Pauline > Barmby > Sent: Wednesday, October 5, 2016 10:58 AM > To: [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [Discuss] Defensive Programming with R > > > > Dear all - > > > > I think “sanity check” could be considered an ableist term, equating “insane” > with “bad”. > > Can I suggest that “expectation check” would be better and also more > descriptive? > > > > Pauline > > --- > > Pauline Barmby > > Associate Dean, Graduate and Post Doctoral Studies, Faculty of Science > > Associate Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy > > Western University > > [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > 519-661-2111 ext 81557 <tel:519-661-2111%20ext%2081557> > > > > _______________________________________________ > Discuss mailing list > [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]> > http://lists.software-carpentry.org/listinfo/discuss > <http://lists.software-carpentry.org/listinfo/discuss> > > _______________________________________________ > Discuss mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.software-carpentry.org/listinfo/discuss
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