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DNA Pioneer Claims "Black People Less Intelligent Than White"

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A speaking tour by the nobel prize winning Dr James Watson was thrown into chaos last night when one of Britain's most high-profile scientific institutions announced it was cancelling a planned sell-out appearance.
Simon_S

9 responses // DNA Pioneer Claims "Black People Less Intelligent Than White"

  • http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2007/10/watson-redis...
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    Watson Rediscovers 1940s Attitudes Towards Race
    Racism is still well and alive, and will be long after James Watson leaves this world, sadly. Where are the social anthropologists on this one? This is their time to come out and shine.
    khsing
  • I agree with this bit here:

    "The co-ordinator of one event, who asked not be named, said: " The correct way to respond is to allow him to be challenged as strongly as possible. A view that is not based on science or is simply wrong will be exposed as such.""
    Dflo
  • This is all going to end with Francis Crick's zombie eating Watson's brain.

    I called it.
    binowhite
  • WOW!! im utterly dishartened to read somthing like this. you know that their are people who think like this in the world, but when a man of science comes out and claims to have proof for what i think are his own personal racist thoughts and views it sickens me. why focus on the differences between us when their are soo similarities.
    peacheather
  • So, there was nothing about why he thinks this? What if he is right? We know that there are medical differences between ethnicities -- are doctors who take this into consideration when treating a patient racist?

    I'm not saying he's right or wrong -- I haven't seen any evidence one way or the other -- but I do think that this obsession with political correctness is damaging to honest research (though I can't make an assumption on his motives) and only contributes even more to racial tension.

    But on a less serious note: Obviously the average IQ of any ethnic group is going to vary, at least slightly, from others, so I suppose he has a 50-50 chance anyways.

    Append:

    Though I wonder how he would make an IQ test that accurately measures intelligence and not just societal differences. Plus, he has to contend with something called stereotype threat. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereotype_threat
    kibiyama
  • Kibiyama, race is a social construct and not scientific fact. The reason why doctors will ask about certain ethnic backgrounds is that certain genetic factors are more common in, but not limited to, certain ethnic groups. Race should not be seen as distinct, static categories as Watson is suggesting, but rather as a spectrum.

    As a geneticist, Watson should know that there is more genetic diversity within a so-called "racial group" than between racial groups. The genetic differences that delineate the "races" are actually minor and insignificant when compared to other genetic traits.

    So in treating disease, there are certain genes that are more predisposed to that disease which are present in nearly every ethnic group, but which are more common in certain groups, which are not within a race. For example, a gene might be more likely to occur among people from an area in South America as well as a group from Eastern Europe, however, even if they are not within a so-called "race."

    The spectrum view also makes more sense when you think about how to categorize people who aren't just "African" or "Asian" or other categories.
    khsing
  • khsing: I see your point, and note that there's a reason I'm not a cultural anthropologist. :D

    I've got some questions, then: So, would it be preferable for doctors to know the origin of a patient rather than his/her race? (ignoring that race is a more visible attribute than origin)

    I can see where origin would get overshadowed by race even in a situation where it is more applicable. Categories tend to be formed by the most convenient attributes, not necessarily the ones we are really looking for. Edit: Check out this video, by the way, it's awesome: http://youtube.com/watch?v=43DZEy_J694

    So, should there be studies to look at genetic differences across different locations? Or are we sufficiently mixed up already that it would be relatively pointless? Does race mean anything beyond a handy indicator of what origin someone likely is?

    Suppose he did produce evidence the black people are, indeed, less intelligent than white people. Absolute, rock-solid, indisputable evidence. (as if there is such a thing) What then?

    I don't intend to place the guy on a pedestal or anything, but I'm still withholding judgment until I see the evidence or lack thereof. The word "racism" is tossed around relatively lightly these days, and it seems like it stops a lot of discussion before it even starts -- and worse, it seems to me that political correctness sort of makes "racists" of us all, sapping the real meaning of it.

    I mean, I can't see calling someone who says "black" rather than "African-American" and a KKK member by the same word.
    kibiyama
  • Wow to this, I cannot believe that in this day and age this types of things are still being debated or even being acknowledged. Are there really people that believe that there are scientific and medical differences between races still? You can quote me, there are no scientific/biological differences between races. Race is not even scientific! It changes over time and region. What scientific facts can you name that are different if you go to a different hemisphere or change drastically in short as little as 20 year periods. NONE. Race has little to do with origin and more to do with physical attributes. I mean I am African American and its been at a minimum of 6 generations before I can even find my lineage back in Africa. Those 6 generations are mostly found in America and in Europe does that make me a European American? This is so much madness. This is not about political correctness it is about researching before forming an opinion. I have not even examined this guy's evidence and I can already tell you that it is trash. There is no scientific way to classify race!!! My skin is brown and so are my parents skin and I have immersed myself in black culture and I consider myself black. But if I wake up tomorrow and say you know what, I think I am white today and I tell people that there is absolutely no way you could prove or say that I was not white other than our society's preconceived notions of what is white and what is black. You cannot fingerprint me, take my blood, etc. P.S. I am a biomedical engineering student with a minor in anthropology. If the "black" people that he tested said they were white there is no definitive evidence to prove them wrong or right. I think that people need to understand scientific evidence and if it can have an merit before they form opinions based off of that information.
    wstormm
  • lol funny
    Coeus1

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