Week of 6/15, Bogost’s rhetorical moves

The introductory paragraph to Ian Bogost’s article “The Problem with Diversity in Computing” exemplifies the story of an injured Amy Webb and features her firsthand experience facing the ignorance of computer software. This is the first rhetorical move Bogost makes, and it introduces an issue the majority of people don’t have to worry about, but should care about. People of color, especially black and Latinx, and women face an inclusion problem that can have severe consequences when computer software is relied on in countless fields.

“Among them is the Constellations Center for Equity in Computing at Georgia Tech, where I hold faculty positions in the colleges of computing and liberal arts,” Bogost states his position at Georgia Tech to inform the reader of his legitimacy of the information he is sharing. Following this quote, Bogost expands on how the computer-science center at Georgia Tech is working towards expanding access to computer-science to people of color and women, and their ongoing funding going to public schools in Atlanta for computer-science classes. 

The use of survey data is used to solidify key examples of Bogost’s argument. He addresses Google’s workforce which is made up of 95% White or Asian people, this fact adds to the idea that systemic privilege prevents minorities from being given the same opportunities in the computing industry. Data collected from China is used as well, “There, kindergarten-age students nationwide will begin studying a textbook this year that’s designed to teach students the new basics of knowledge they need to succeed in a computational future,”. The addition of this fact is used to inform the reader on steps that are already being taken to improve computational skills elsewhere in the world. China makes up roughly 18% of the global population and is a leading country in the computer-science industry, the steps they are taking education-wise are important to know because of how large of an impact China can have on our world. 

In Ian Bogost’s article, quotes from his colleagues are used to develop an emotional aspect that is less informative, and more compassionate.“The integration of women, people of color, and other underrepresented voices would mean that the behavior of the entire industry would change as a result of their presence in that community. ‘Diversity is just membership,’ Isbell said. ‘Integration is influence, power, and partnership.’” The quote opens the reader up to a new definition of diversity, where organizations in our current culture are obligated to diversify their workforce, although many are reluctant to fully integrate the minority groups because of the prejudices they have towards them.

The last statement made in Ian Bogost’s article provides the reader with an idea where deeper thinking is necessary. “That culture replaces all knowledge and interests with the pursuit of technological solutions at maximum speed. “Anyone who falls outside of that core group of interests are not being represented,” Webb said. If she’s right, then the problem with computing isn’t just that it doesn’t represent a diverse public’s needs. Instead, the problem with computing is computing.” The quote follows a series of paragraphs addressing the economic mentality of many of the large companies that run our computing world. In the post-industrial capitalist world, we tend to forget about the moral codes we stand by personally, and to combat the ongoing inclusion issues in the computing industry, we must stop computing for computing’s sake, and start computing for our fellow human’s sake.