Blacks have less intelligence
These are words that have been attributed to Nobel Prize winner Jim Watson. Dr. Watson who is 79 won the Nobel for his work on DNA. It is really kind of funny that he would comment on intelligence since he really didn’t discover DNA. He didn’t do any great experiment to show that DNA was a double helix. Instead, he and Crick took the findings of other scientists and put them together and then they came up with their conclusion. Many scientists were jealous or upset that Watson and Crick won the Nobel for interpreting other peoples work.
Well, this morning Watson is taking back his statement.
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From CNN.com:
Nobel laureate biologist Jim Watson apologized “unreservedly” Thursday for stating that black people were not as intelligent as whites, saying he was “mortified” by the comments attributed to him.
“I cannot understand how I could have said what I am quoted as having said,” Watson said during an appearance at the Royal Society in London.
“I can certainly understand why people, reading those words, have reacted in the ways that they have.”
“To all those who have drawn the inference from my words that Africa, as a continent, is somehow genetically inferior, I can only apologize unreservedly. That is not what I meant. More importantly from my point of view, there is no scientific basis for such a belief,” he said.
Watson, 79, an American who won the 1962 Nobel prize for his role in the discovery of the double-helix structure of DNA, told the Sunday Times he was “inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa” because “all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours, whereas all the testing says not really.” (more…)
I work as a Unix Tech for a webhosting company, and let me tell you, there was this one guy, who no longer works there, that thought I was hired on because I am black, and then thought I was promoted for the same reason….
I work hard, period….and I follow instructions, he was laid off over a month ago….he did not follow instructions…
oh well, off to work…. ^_^
Watson is asking the age old what-if question. What if there were a gene that simultaneously contained information about ones skin color and ones ability to do certain things, such as running fast. What if the genes determining sexual prowess were somehow linked with gene markers indicating Hispanic descent? Well … there is no such evidence of these type of connections. But let’s not dodge the question. What if such a link was found? What to do?
The official position of our government (despite the variance of opinion of many people) is that all citizens of our country are in fact equal and should be treated as such. Consequently, we have laws against race discrimination, age discrimination, gender discrimination, etc. We have policies which support affirmative action to make sure that everyone (statistically speaking) is getting a fair shake. Compare and contrast to Singapore.
In Singapore, the governmental position is that ethnic Chinese are in fact mentally superior to ethnic Indians who are in fact superior to ethnic Malays. With such a clear difference in fundamental beliefs, one might imagine that the day-to-day policies of the Singaporean institutions must be radically different from those of the U.S. They aren’t. Laws against discrimination exist there. Affirmative action in universities and quotas at job sites are vigorously enforced.
Why are the results the same when the underlying POV is so different? Well, maybe it’s because the function of society is to make sure everyone has a chance to function in that society. Watson, Hitler,Hirohito, the 5% nation, et. al. have essentially the same vision of the world. 5% of the population is elite and deserving of special status. 95% of the population is inferior and deserving of special low status. Watson’s basic contention that science will somehow prove him right is not new - Adolph said exactly the same thing. The Singaporean leadership - while no less racist than Watson - understands what Watson doesn’t. The U.S. constitution understands what Watson doesn’t. In order for a society to function well EVERYONE must be given equal access to EVERY opportunity. Whether or not we presuppose that a person is unfit to do something because of their skin tone, sexuality, height, I.Q. test or whatever, whether or not someday someone establishes a scientific rational for their biases, we must insist that each person is actually judged by their accomplishments, not our suppositions.
By all accounts Richard Nixon was super smart, Evo Morales isn’t. Who has been a better president for his country? In 1978 who would you draft onto your NBA team based on “obvious natural abilities” - Larry Bird or Mychal Thompson. Big mistake. Who would you imagine has had the most entrepreneurial success post sports career (once again based on “obvious natural abilities”) - Magic Johnson or Larry Bird. Oops.
Before I sign off, let me make sure I answered Watson’s question. What to do if scientific evidence links a physical characteristic to an intellectual ability? Do absolutely nothing. The way people function in this world has precious little to do with genetic predispositions. You, undoubtedly have extremely high I.Q. Yet and still that didn’t prevent you from blurting out your deep-seated bigotry which has harmed your legacy and your career. I would have presupposed that your genetic makeup would not allow you to make such a blunder. I would have been wrong.