the single most hilarious thing I've read in a long time - involves racism.
17-Oct-2007 | 03:02 PM
#1
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Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 2,305
From: GTA
the single most hilarious thing I've read in a long time - involves racism.
Black people 'less intelligent' scientist claims
One of the world’s most respected scientists is embroiled in an extraordinary row after claiming that black people are less intelligent than white people.
James Watson, a Nobel Prize winner for his part in discovering the structure of DNA, has provoked outrage with his comments, made ahead of his arrival in Britain today.
More fierce criticism of the eminent scientist is expected as he embarks on a number of engagements to promote a new book ‘Avoid Boring People: Lessons from a Life in Science’. Among his first commitments is a speech to a London audience at the Science Museum on Friday. The event is sold out.
Dr Watson, who runs one of America’s leading scientific research institutions, made the controversial remarks in an interview in The Sunday Times.
The 79-year-old geneticist 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.". He said he hoped that everyone was equal, but countered that “people who have to deal with black employees find this not true”.
He says that you should not discriminate on the basis of colour, because “there are many people of colour who are very talented, but don’t promote them when they haven’t succeeded at the lower level”. He writes that “there is no firm reason to anticipate that the intellectual capacities of peoples geographically separated in their evolution should prove to have evolved identically. Our wanting to reserve equal powers of reason as some universal heritage of humanity will not be enough to make it so”.
He claimed genes responsible for creating differences in human intelligence could be found within a decade.
The newly formed Equality and Human Rights Commission is studying Dr Watson’s remarks “in full”.
Keith Vaz, the Labour chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, said today: “It is sad to see a scientist of such achievement making such baseless, unscientific and extremely offensive comments.
“I am sure the scientific community will roundly reject what appear to be Dr Watson’s personal prejudices. These comments serve as a reminder of the attitudes which can still exist at the highest professional levels.”
Dr Watson was hailed as achieving one of the greatest single scientific breakthroughs of the 20th century when he worked at the University of Cambridge in the 1950s and 1960s, forming part of the team which discovered the structure of DNA.
He shared the 1962 Nobel Prize for medicine with his British colleague Francis Crick and New Zealand-born Maurice Wilkins.
He has served for 50 years as a director of the Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory on Long Island, considered a world leader in research into cancer and genetics.
Dr Watson is no stranger to controversy. He has been reported in the past saying that a woman should have the right to abort her unborn child if tests could determine it would be homosexual.
In addition, he has suggested a link between skin colour and sex drive, proposing a theory that black people have higher libidos.
He also claimed that beauty could be genetically manufactured, saying: “People say it would be terrible if we made all girls pretty. I think it would be great.”
Commenting on Dr Watson’s current views about race, Steven Rose, a professor of biological sciences at the Open University, 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.
He added: “If he knew the literature in the subject he would know he was out of his depth scientifically, quite apart from socially and politically.”
A spokeswoman for the Science Museum said it was looking into “things” concerning the security of the event on Friday.
She said: “This kind of thing always generates debate.”
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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...=null&offset=0
One of the world’s most respected scientists is embroiled in an extraordinary row after claiming that black people are less intelligent than white people.
James Watson, a Nobel Prize winner for his part in discovering the structure of DNA, has provoked outrage with his comments, made ahead of his arrival in Britain today.
More fierce criticism of the eminent scientist is expected as he embarks on a number of engagements to promote a new book ‘Avoid Boring People: Lessons from a Life in Science’. Among his first commitments is a speech to a London audience at the Science Museum on Friday. The event is sold out.
Dr Watson, who runs one of America’s leading scientific research institutions, made the controversial remarks in an interview in The Sunday Times.
The 79-year-old geneticist 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.". He said he hoped that everyone was equal, but countered that “people who have to deal with black employees find this not true”.
He says that you should not discriminate on the basis of colour, because “there are many people of colour who are very talented, but don’t promote them when they haven’t succeeded at the lower level”. He writes that “there is no firm reason to anticipate that the intellectual capacities of peoples geographically separated in their evolution should prove to have evolved identically. Our wanting to reserve equal powers of reason as some universal heritage of humanity will not be enough to make it so”.
He claimed genes responsible for creating differences in human intelligence could be found within a decade.
The newly formed Equality and Human Rights Commission is studying Dr Watson’s remarks “in full”.
Keith Vaz, the Labour chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, said today: “It is sad to see a scientist of such achievement making such baseless, unscientific and extremely offensive comments.
“I am sure the scientific community will roundly reject what appear to be Dr Watson’s personal prejudices. These comments serve as a reminder of the attitudes which can still exist at the highest professional levels.”
Dr Watson was hailed as achieving one of the greatest single scientific breakthroughs of the 20th century when he worked at the University of Cambridge in the 1950s and 1960s, forming part of the team which discovered the structure of DNA.
He shared the 1962 Nobel Prize for medicine with his British colleague Francis Crick and New Zealand-born Maurice Wilkins.
He has served for 50 years as a director of the Cold Spring Harbour Laboratory on Long Island, considered a world leader in research into cancer and genetics.
Dr Watson is no stranger to controversy. He has been reported in the past saying that a woman should have the right to abort her unborn child if tests could determine it would be homosexual.
In addition, he has suggested a link between skin colour and sex drive, proposing a theory that black people have higher libidos.
He also claimed that beauty could be genetically manufactured, saying: “People say it would be terrible if we made all girls pretty. I think it would be great.”
Commenting on Dr Watson’s current views about race, Steven Rose, a professor of biological sciences at the Open University, 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.
He added: “If he knew the literature in the subject he would know he was out of his depth scientifically, quite apart from socially and politically.”
A spokeswoman for the Science Museum said it was looking into “things” concerning the security of the event on Friday.
She said: “This kind of thing always generates debate.”
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http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...=null&offset=0
17-Oct-2007 | 03:22 PM
#3
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Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 7,275
From: Fortress of Superheroes
"Dr Watson is no stranger to controversy. He has been reported in the past saying that a woman should have the right to abort her unborn child if tests could determine it would be homosexual."
^ I find that to be freaking hilarious....hahahaha...awesome
^ I find that to be freaking hilarious....hahahaha...awesome
17-Oct-2007 | 04:02 PM
#5
why do people find this offensive????
just cuz society wishes it wasn't so doesn't make it true.
fack there is so much I can say about this topic, but I don't wanna be called racist if someone misunderstands it...
just cuz society wishes it wasn't so doesn't make it true.
fack there is so much I can say about this topic, but I don't wanna be called racist if someone misunderstands it...
LOL
17-Oct-2007 | 04:05 PM
#8
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 13,184
From: Mississauga
but 1 - it's just his opinion, and 2 - it's not like it was proven in a study or anything like that...
also there are MANY other factors other than race/dna that I feel might contribute to intelligence levels that he hasn't addressed here.
Take a white baby and put it in africa and have it grow up like the kids there and I'd bet it won't be as intelligent as a white baby that grows up here. is that cuz it's DNA changes when it moves to a different continent?
17-Oct-2007 | 04:06 PM
#9
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 13,184
From: Mississauga
hence todays lazy mexican... where they're all lazy every single one of them
where's tego so he can freak out and say i'm being racist?
17-Oct-2007 | 04:10 PM
#10
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Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 2,305
From: GTA
what the guy is saying is culture and society have driven the development of a human race in a different direction. there is still great variance among individuals and one should never assume someone is smart or stupid based upon their background, but that on average there are differences.
I pretty much agree with that statement. Now in regards to being better, I don't think you can pick one, because we've all developed differently with different advantages.
What's better, a German Sheppard or a Doberman? They're different.
we're nothing but glorified animals.
I pretty much agree with that statement. Now in regards to being better, I don't think you can pick one, because we've all developed differently with different advantages.
What's better, a German Sheppard or a Doberman? They're different.
we're nothing but glorified animals.
17-Oct-2007 | 04:37 PM
#11
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Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 51
this is not "just his opinion" in the way it would be, let's say, my opinion..
it is the expert opinion of one of the leading researchers in the field. He has directed one of the worlds most renowed research institutes for 50 years!!! that gives him a lot of credibility, and when someone does one thing for a long time, their knowledge and intuition allow them to make statements based on theories that are yet to be proven..
i agree with BB.. just because we don't want it to be true due to political correctness, it doesnt necessairly make it not true..
it is the expert opinion of one of the leading researchers in the field. He has directed one of the worlds most renowed research institutes for 50 years!!! that gives him a lot of credibility, and when someone does one thing for a long time, their knowledge and intuition allow them to make statements based on theories that are yet to be proven..
i agree with BB.. just because we don't want it to be true due to political correctness, it doesnt necessairly make it not true..
17-Oct-2007 | 05:16 PM
#12
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Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 23,881
hahaha...mexicans and black people...but its clearly the school system that black children are exposed to compared to that of white children coinciding with the poor living conditions that society forces upon the black people (see the southern states for a prime example)...among other things I sure as hope he isnt grouping native africans into all this...hahaha...mexicans
17-Oct-2007 | 10:20 PM
#14
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Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 387
i dont think what he is stating is wrong. If you need the quotes that were written out in the article you would see that he is not stating BLACK PEOPLE ARE DUMB he is stating that from the research he has done so far that it appears that they are not in equal with the other. rather then seeing it as a racist thing i think people should try to understand what exactly he means because i highly doubt he is a racist he is just stating something he has found from what he has researched and studied on. that being said if tests were made on brown, yellow, green, purple people it would again show differences within colours and i am sure the history behind the X colour of people has something to do with evolution.
17-Oct-2007 | 10:42 PM
#15
yeah it could be true, (woot being half white, atleast i'm half smart)
but 1 - it's just his opinion, and 2 - it's not like it was proven in a study or anything like that...
also there are MANY other factors other than race/dna that I feel might contribute to intelligence levels that he hasn't addressed here.
Take a white baby and put it in africa and have it grow up like the kids there and I'd bet it won't be as intelligent as a white baby that grows up here. is that cuz it's DNA changes when it moves to a different continent?
but 1 - it's just his opinion, and 2 - it's not like it was proven in a study or anything like that...
also there are MANY other factors other than race/dna that I feel might contribute to intelligence levels that he hasn't addressed here.
Take a white baby and put it in africa and have it grow up like the kids there and I'd bet it won't be as intelligent as a white baby that grows up here. is that cuz it's DNA changes when it moves to a different continent?
hahaha j/ki just think it's sad this guy has to catch so much bull**** for something most average people don't even understand.
17-Oct-2007 | 10:47 PM
#16
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Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 976
From: at work
um, i'm pretty sure JD Watson is purely a structural genomic type of fella and does not deal with human epidemiological data, indicating that he is not an expert on human epi studies pertaining to the impact of ethnic background on human intelligence. nor is JD Watson a brain or neurological expert.
17-Oct-2007 | 11:26 PM
#18
Senior Member
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 976
From: at work
just b/c he's a renowned scientist doesn't mean that he knows every aspect of science.
it's like when ppl are shocked that i'm not good at doing math in my head..."but you're doing your PhD in science"...ya, i'm a scientist, not a frickin mathematician...there's a difference.
it's like when ppl are shocked that i'm not good at doing math in my head..."but you're doing your PhD in science"...ya, i'm a scientist, not a frickin mathematician...there's a difference.
17-Oct-2007 | 11:29 PM
#19
at the same time, white people just can't be as cool as this
http://www.eskimo.com/~nanook/music/...s-is-cool.html
http://www.eskimo.com/~nanook/music/...s-is-cool.html
