A government minister has condemned the Nobel Prize winning geneticist James Watson for claiming that black people are less intelligent than white people.
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| Dr Watson in less controversial times |
It follows comments by the US-born Dr Watson to a newspaper in which he said 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”.
David Lammy, the skills minister, said that James Watson’s comments were “deeply offensive”. He added: “They will succeed only in providing oxygen for the BNP. It is a shame that a man with a record of scientific distinction should see his work overshadowed by his own irrational prejudices.”
The Equality and Human Rights Commission has made it clear that they would be prepared to take action against Dr Watson. A spokesperson from the Commission told Laboratory News: “We have no doubt Mr Watson’s remarks will meet with a robust response from the scientific community – as is already starting to happen. However, should any person or organisation feel these remarks gives them the basis to justify discriminatory practices, they should be clear that would prompt the Commission’s enforcement arm to intervene”.
The Science Museum also cancelled a talk by Watson based on his seemingly racist comments. In a statement the Museum said: “We know that eminent scientists can sometimes say things that cause controversy and the Science Museum does not shy away from debating controversial topics.
“However, the Science Museum feels that James Watson’s recent comments have gone beyond the point of acceptable debate and we are as a result cancelling his talk at the museum.”
Dr Watson, 79, was one of three people working at Cambridge University who shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1962 for discovering the structure of DNA. He made the controversial assertions in an interview in The Sunday Times. He told the paper that he hoped everyone was equal but “people who have to deal with black employees find this is not true”.
Steven Rose, a professor of biological sciences at the Open University, labelled his comments as racist. He said: “This is Watson at his most scandalous. He has said similar things about women before but I have never heard him get into this racist terrain. If he knew the literature in the subject he would know he was out of his depth scientifically, quite apart from socially and politically.”
Dr Watson has expressed sorrow over his comments: “To all those who have drawn the inference from my words that Africa, as a continent, is somehow genetically inferior, I can only apologise unreservedly.
“That is not what I meant. More importantly from my point of view, there is no scientific basis for such a belief.”
Dr Watson has been suspended by his research institution – the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) in New York – over his comments. He was in the UK to promote his latest book – Avoid Boring People: Lessons from a Life in Science. He has also been banned from appearing at some other bookshops and lectures planned for its promotion.
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That is not a true statement, there are plenty of black people that are just as intelligent as white people.
There are many measurements of a civilization’s level of advancement that directly affirm the overall IQ of a society. I collect ancient Greek and Roman coins. One has to appreciate the technology needed to mine and alloy metals, engrave and harden the master dies, and produce coins in quantity. That, with all the other technological accomplishments of the Romans, is an indication of the IQ needed to make such advances. A written language, domestication of plants and animals, ships that could sail the oceans, the navigation using stars needed, the invention of the wheel, and a commerce system are additional examples of being able to function at a high level of intelligence. Europe, Northern Africa and Asia showed similar advances but not southern Africa. The Roman architect, Vitruvius, in his ten books written two thousand years ago, indicates how much technology existed. Southern Africa was still in the stone age.
Many people were slaves including the Greeks and yet they managed to rebound. Even Winston Churchill noted that the Africans “Sat on the ocean for two million years and never set sail”. Though it should be obvious that a round stone is easier to roll than a flat or irregular, there is no evidence that the wheel existed in southern Africa.
Science and mathematics test a theory at the midpoint and extremes. It is obvious that some people are born retarded and others have exceptional abilities. Savants are an interesting phenomenon since they have a unique ability that must be genetic. MRI and CAT scans show there are differences in the brains of individuals. Strokes indicate the role that specific parts of the brain handle specific functions. The “blank slate” theory is seriously refuted by Steven Pinker studies of language and the brain. Konrad Lorenze’s animal studies showed innate differences within animals of the same species. His study of birds and dogs are classic works. Karl von Frische’s study of the honey bee (Apis Melifera) shows how much behavior is programmed by the genes.
Trofim Lysenko, from 1928 through 1964, set the Soviet Union back so much, that they have yet to fully recover, by denying genetics and even had imprisoned and killed those scientists that believed in genetics. The condemnation of James Watson raises the fear that politics and zealots could do the same here. Most of those that are attacking him don’t seem to have the intelligence to do more than resort to childish name calling and despotic mandates.
Perhaps Louis HR Muller should read more widely.
Greater Zimbabwe was the largest stone city in Southern Africa and was first seen by Europeans in the 16th Century. It was estimated to have been built in the 1100′s. Items found there came as far as way as China.
Such is its importance to history, UNESCO gave it World Heritage Status in 1986.
I would think that such a massive city is evidence of technology existing in Southern Africa.
A Harvard psychology professor and an economist who got his PhD from MIT published a book (The Bell Curve) in which they reviewed literally thousands of prior studies, which, taken together, show beyond any conceivable doubt that
(i) White Americans have an average IQ of 100 (as the test was designed).
(ii) Africans have an average in 75
(iii) Africans in America have an average of 85
(iv) No rearing, adopting, training of “head starting” has ever made a dent in the 15 point differfence.
Make your own conclusions.