Dr J Watson Claims Blacks Genetically Stupider Than Whites Science Museum cancels talk by Watson after racist comment

[Thing 0]

In an interview with The Sunday Times, the 79-year-old 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 went on to say he hoped everyone was equal but that "people who have to deal with black employees find this is not true".

A spokesman for the Science 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, we feel Dr Watson has gone beyond the point of acceptable debate and we are as a result cancelling his talk."

The scientist has courted controversy in the past, saying that a woman should have the right to abort her unborn child if tests could determine it would be homosexual.

BBC
Independent

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[t3jem 0]

This is complete BS. I know many African Americans that are smarter than I am, to say that they aren't as smart is a completely racist comment. Certainly whites in the US may know more than many blacks in Africa, but that does not mean they are not as smart just that they didn't get the same education as us.

[Liam_CF 0]

The thing is... he didn't mean to be racist. A quick talk with him would have been sufficient.

[adriantc 0]

This is complete BS. I know many African Americans that are smarter than I am, to say that they aren't as smart is a completely racist comment. Certainly whites in the US may know more than many blacks in Africa, but that does not mean they are not as smart just that they didn't get the same education as us.

Same opinion here... This J Watson may very well have been one of the KKK. And even if it were scientifically true (a fact which I highly doubt) he shouldn't have published his findings. Racial hate does not need an incentive... Not the centuries of slavery an easy excuse...
I don't personally know any colored people, but I have a few in my collage and I feel good every time I see them since I consider myself cosmopolitan. I believe that once people of the earth will mix this kind of judgments will be impossible. Hate, wars, death all comes from our differences... once they will disappear so will the hate between the brothers of the same specie.
As you I also think they don't have the same chances in life a white man has. I'm sure that is why they don't win so many Nobel prizes... surely not because they are stupid, but because they don't receive the same amount of education a white man receives. This doctor should not forget that the so "wise" and "smart" white people considered for centuries the black not as human beings, not as their equals. And when they... we.... have finally have started having remorses we backed up leaving them unorganized, half civilized and in total chaos. Africa is still trying to recover after being "milked" so long by the "smart" white people. This J Watson should be ashamed of calling himself a scientist and a doctor!

[jopak134 0]

whites have more opportunities. thats the best way to think about it.i think it is just his opinion, how can you know who is more dumb or wiser is very difficult. i think it can only be done when a white mother and a black mother have the same diet, iq and others and giving their child to a lab without outside interferance then they will know who is dumber. which is basically impossible.the gene for melanin has no link for interlligence. if there a link then you can say that your are bald and i am not because i have big feet which is stupid.

[jlhaslip 4]

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".

It would be interesting to review the research methods he used to determine their level of Intelligence. Chances are good that he used an ethnocentric IQ test design by a group of WASP-ish folks raised in an Urban environment used to watching television and reading newspapers while using the Internet to catch a weather report. I wonder what percentage of the Africans have the same socializations as that group does? Culturalization is a common factor in the results of testing. The IQ tests do not measure the inherent intelligence. It measures the testee's social setting and the adaptation of culturally induced standards of intelligence.

This has been a flaw in the system throughout time. If North Americans are given a culturally biased examination, they do not perform at the same level as those whose standards are enforced by the test. It doesn't take much research to discover the flaws in IQ testing.

[Lyon2 0]

I am not a racist, but i must agree, black color people usually are not very smart, but they have no guilt nor fault because of it, we do, the white color people, and i explain you why.White color people made the black color people slaves for too much time and they explored, in a negative way, the african continent to a point where they are, unprotected, desorganized, uncoordenated, in war in many countries, mainly in deep "SHT", forgive me the language, but it is true.They were our slaves for a very long time, all over the world, and we also exported them from africa into america and europe to be and to continue slaves, and that happened for centuries.Now, white or black color people, the human beeing evolves or developes from generation to generation, but we did not let the black color people develop because they were not allowed too, period, but we did develope untill today.Even today, black color people can not develope because the white man does not let, does not aprove, does not allow, the white man is racist and has the power, the black man can not do a thing, period.And that will continue forever, no matter what the black color people do, they will not have as many chances and as many resources as the white man.

Edited March 12, 2008 by Lyon2 (see edit history)

[sonesay 7]

This is stupid and if you think color has anything to do with how smart you are then you are dumb. Stop generalizing people with certain traits that aren't true. We don't see people saying all whites are in the KKK do we and they are only a small group in a larger community. I'm sure there is just as much dumb people in the white community as there are in blacks or any color for that matter. I'm at university with a lot of smart and dumb people from all sorts of skin color. Look around you the ratio of who's smart or stupid will vary but its never just one color. That doctor is just a racist and the comments he made proves it. If you don't get that then you are stupid and maybe should check your skin color and report back to the doctor.

[cangor 0]

Race totally has something to do with how smart you are, but that doesn't mean a black person is dumber than a white person or something like that. I know plenty of very smart black people and plenty of very smart dumb people. I personally thing Dr. Watson's comment is incredibly short-sighted and makes a massive generalization. However, I do agree that race is tied to intelligence.And, really, it isn't race that has to do with it, it's genetics. If both your parents are smart then chances are you'll be too, and for whatever reasons some races are genetically different. I don't see why people have such a hard time accepting this. It's just like some races are shorter and taller than each other. People accept that, because they can't argue with it. You can complain that these tests are socially adapted to whites or whatever, but then why does Hong Kong have the highest average IQ in the world according to these tests? The fact is that some races, just like some people are smarter than others. This doesn't mean that one race is better than another or that a single person is dumb or smart because of their race. People somehow think it's incredibly politically incorrect to be "racist" like this, but the truth is it is scientifically supported. How about we just accept the way things are instead of pretending that we're all the same? Cause we aren't, and saying that race doesn't affect intelligence is as dumb as saying race doesn't affect height.

Edited March 12, 2008 by cangor (see edit history)

[KidzForCauses 0]

Disclaimer: My opinions do not represent that of those in the KidzForCauses organization.The thing people really have to accept is that we aren't all equal. As was said by the person above me, different races clearly have different traits--intelligence is not exempted from the general category of "traits".That being said, it is ridiculous to assert, say, that ALL blacks are less smart than whites. This is clearly wrong... perhaps this is an odd comparison but look at George W. Bush, then look at Barack Obama. I personally respect Bush as a person but I can't help thinking that he is an absolute idiot. On the other hand, Obama's speeches have definitely affected the masses, usually positively. He has been able to fight throughout this campaign, without actually getting dirty. He fights by not fighting--to me, that is a greater indication of intelligence than the ability of a savant to mentally multiply gargantuan numbers.I think it would now be a good time to refer to the Abilities system in Dungeons & Dragons (something that, oddly, seems to carry a negative air, although that doesn't pertain to this discussion). When creating a character in D&D, there are 7 base races that you can choose from: Human, Elf, Dwarf, Gnome, Halfling, Half-elf, and Half-orc. Let us look at two examples: The Sun Elf subrace of Elves, and Half-Orcs. Sun Elves get a general +2 bonus to their Intelligence score, where 10 is an average intelligence for any race. However, they received a -2 Constitution penalty, which lowers their ability to take hits in battle, or resist disease. The Half-Orc, on the other hand, gains a +2 to strength, allowing him to hit harder and carry more. The trade off for this bonus is a -2 to BOTH intelligence and charisma.Now, these are general rules--it is possible to have a sun elf with an intelligence score of 8, and a half-orc with an intelligence score of 18. However, if a half-orc had an 18 Intelligence score, his human counterpart would have a 20 intelligence score. Likewise, a sun elf with an intelligence score of 8 would have a human counterpart with an intelligence score of 6.Perhaps Watson was wrong. Perhaps not. If he was right, I think it would be appropriate to think of things in the manner I presented above: Different ethnicities will have different racial adjustments. The key word is adjustments... not absolutes.

[cangor 0]

Yeah, I agree absolutely... And, the example is actually... surprisingly good. Thanks for putting it so eloquently. I think the word "adjustments" is something that some people might call "derogatory" because it carries the connotation of someone of one race being smarter than an equivalent person of another race, but, I think that's actually a good way of putting it. Anyway, at least for me I prefer to judge people on an individual basis...