“The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter” – Mark Twain

The New York Times recently reported a list of nearly 200 words that the government is trying to eliminate from government websites and other materials, in its attempts to purge the federal government of “woke” initiatives.

In the spirit of Mark Twain’s quote in the title of this blog—which perhaps I should have redacted to avoid using the questionable word “race”—I have tried to consider some of the unintended consequences of following the list of words… to the letter.

Have more funny ideas? Share them in the comments!

About the author: Paolo Gaudiano

With degrees in aerospace engineering and neuroscience, Paolo jokes (as you can see from the above post, he does have a sense of humor) that he had already done rocket science and brain surgery before facing a really complex problem: convincing business leaders they can make more money by creating more inclusive organizations.

Paolo is founder of DEI tech company Aleria and the research nonprofit ARC. A former tenured professor, he is an adjunct at NYU and chair of the annual D&I Research Conference.

Paolo is a sought-after speaker, and author of the award-winning book Measuring Inclusion. He has received numerous awards for his work, including a Moonshot House Fellowship from the Kravis Center for Social Impact.

If you would like to invite Paolo to deliver a compelling, engaging presentation to your next leadership meeting, offsite, class, or conference, or if you'd like to learn more about Measuring Inclusion for your organization, please fill out our contact form and someone from the Aleria team will get back to you.