Nobel Prize scientist - Black people are dumb

[madnak]

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Right. And I understand there are exceptions. But all I'm saying is that if you look at people who have black skin tone, they are more likely to be bigger, stronger, and more athletic than people with white or yellow skin tones. I find this to be almost indisputable, yet I seem to be having probems with this?

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They are more likely to be bigger, stronger, and more athletic. But that doesn't mean anything. People who eat chinese food are more likely to be good at math. So what? There's a correlation here, but there is no causation.

Look at it this way. Imagine there are four different kinds of nerfs. Type A is red, and of average strength. Type B is red, and of below-average strength. Type C is blue, and of average strength. Type D is blue, and of above-average strength.

Are blue nerfs generally stronger than red nerfs? Absolutely. But that doesn't mean type C nerfs are stronger than type A nerfs. Color is not the best way to classify nerfs. It's better to simply classify the types of nerf based on their strength. Type A and C are then in the same category. By using color to categorize the nerfs, type A nerfs end up in the same category as type B nerfs (and so are treated as being weak), while type C nerfs are put in the same category with type D nerfs (and so are treated as being strong), all because of an incidental similarity.

Of course, we could go even further and just deal with each nerf individually. A freakishly strong type B should be treated as stronger than a frail type D, obviously. I know you haven't been making these arguments, Lestat, but Phil has suggested that people should be educated differently on the basis of their skin color, based on the correlation between IQ and skin color. That's really stupid! How about we just educate children based on their IQ instead? Then a black person with a high IQ won't be miscategorized, nor will a white person with a low IQ. Similarly, if Kenyans tend to have low IQs, then the education system and the politics in Kenya will have to take that into account. That Kenyans also happen to have dark skin doesn't.

Across the board, the divisions based purely on skin color just muddy things. It's not a particularly relevant trait.

But you are right about one thing. If you're choosing between two swimming partners, and your only information is that one of them is black and one of them is white, you should probably choose the white partner.

[jogsxyz]

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Environment?

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They should also test family dynamics. One or two parent home. Do children from stable families perform better than those from broken homes?

[andyfox]

"Maybe his comment is based upon the very real phenomenon that a lot of minorities wouldn't be where they are at without affirmative action."

This is a real phenomenon? Do you think Watson knows the science, i.e, the statistics, behind how real it is or is not? He was talking about employees, not people attending graduate school at the University of Michigan.

"But that was not the point of his statement. His statement was that people could abort either homosexual or heterosexual fetuses. Only half of his statement typically gets reported."

Why does he even mention homosexuals? Here is what was quoted in the press: "If you could find the gene which determines sexuality and a woman decides she doesn't want a homosexual child, well, let her."

I disagree that his age is playing into his desire for attention. He's made callous, insensitive, racist, sexist remarks all his life.

[Silent A]

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Didn't know South Africa was so dominant, but I've heard of Kenyan runners. Maybe it has something to do with the altitudes they train at?

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Just to clarify a bit more, by "Southwest Africa" he means the southern part of West Africa (Nigeria etc.) not the western part of Southern Africa (Namibia, etc.).

[andyfox]

Dawkins is misguided here. He takes issues with the paper using the word "but" instead of "and."

He misunderstands the purpose of a newspaper. It is to report the news. The news was that Dr. Watson said if a woman wants to abort a fetus that was going to be homosexual she should have that right. Not that he said women should have the right to have an abortion for any reason. The "but" is the correct conjunction.

Dawkins's last sentence seems more accurate. I also have not the slightest doubt that Dr. Watson would add any number of characterisitcs to his reasons for abortion, since he has shown a consistent attitude during his life of wanting to "cure" ugliness, stupidity, blackness, and homosexuality.

[andyfox]

I see the smiley faces, so I'm not being a hardass here. My own position on abortion differs from that of the DNC, but that's irrelevant. There's an ugliness in Watson's statements throughout his career that, in their totality, lead me to believe that he's a monster who would be in favor of genetically making extinct those characteristics of which he doesn't approve--blackness, ugliness, stupidity, and homosexuality---all as defined by him.

[tame_deuces]

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I see the smiley faces, so I'm not being a hardass here. My own position on abortion differs from that of the DNC, but that's irrelevant. There's an ugliness in Watson's statements throughout his career that, in their totality, lead me to believe that he's a monster who would be in favor of genetically making extinct those characteristics of which he doesn't approve--blackness, ugliness, stupidity, and homosexuality---all as defined by him.

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And he is not alone in this. Elitism and eugenic philosophy has often marred the biology/genetics field.

[andyfox]

There's a world of difference in talking about a minority group as excelling in something than to call them stupid.

And when he asserts his "very valid claim" while he indicates that people who “have to" work with blacks would know they're stupid, the problem is exacerbated.

Truth is indeed much more important than political correctness. But Dr. Watson's "truth" is obviously biased.

[andyfox]

Were we talking math, there's no problem Add four or subtract negative four, you end up the same place. When you say blacks are superior athletes, it's a very different thing than saying they're stupid.

[andyfox]

According to Watson himself, we don't need him to know the truth. All you have to do is have a black employee, and you will know how stupid the race is.

Elementary, my dear Watson.

[This thread can use a bit of lightening up. I was once taking a golf lesson with my son when the instructor said, "Elementary, my dear Watson." I asked my son, then 12, if he knew who said, "Elementary, my dear Watson." He thought a bit and said, "Jack Nicklaus?" Pretty good guess; just the wrong Watson.]