Lab suspends DNA pioneer Watson
From the BBC...The Nobel Prize-winning DNA pioneer James Watson has been suspended by his research institution in the US.
Dr Watson has drawn severe criticism over remarks he made in a British newspaper at the weekend.
In the interview, he was quoted as saying Africans were less intelligent than Europeans.
And from the Independent...As he arrives in Britain, DNA pioneer breaks his silence on racism row
And from the man himself...James Watson: To question genetic intelligence is not racism
3 comments:
James Watson is considered pretty authoritative on genetics and it is not the first time scientific opinion has been put forward citing links
between race and average IQ.
What I find interesting however, irrespective of whether such claims have any basis in truth, is the seeming impossibility of coherent discussion and intelligent debate, just the desire to explore the
subject seems to attract cries of "racist" and provoke indignation. I remember back in the 1980s when scientific research was put foward to
explain why West Indian fast bowlers were constantly decimating the English at cricket, claiming that they had a physiological advantage in their shoulder articulations and arm that enabled them to bowl a faster ball. I don't remember any indignation at that! Is not intelligence just another evolutionary component the same as an arm or a shoulder?
It seems, sadly, that society's fear of the answer is considered a valid reason to condemn someone for asking a question.
Ah don' know whud all diss fuss is abou'...
But surely we are missing the real point here. It has been suggested in the past by prominent scientists that badgers are less intelligent thatn Belgians but does that statement smack of racist remark? Just where do we draw the line? Should we be considering the feelings of Badgers here? They can't read at all so it really does mean that they are thick. Yes, there! I have said it.
I really had no Idea that Belgians could not read.
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