Re: DNA pioneer James Watson suspended in farcical race row

DK wrote:
Tim Tyler <seemysig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
DK wrote:

Not that simple, apparently. The most serious criticism of "this and
that IQ" science comes simply from stating that IQ tests are biased.
It doesn't seem relevant to Watson's comments.

It does. His statement was broadly based on IQ findings and
anecdotal evidence. If one rejects IQ validity, Watson has no
scientific basis for his claim. [...]

But Watson's claim was *about* the test results! His comment
was essentially an assertion that black people tend to
score poorly in intelligence tests.

He said he was: "inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa"
.....some other stuff and then... "all our social policies are
based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours ?
whereas all the testing says not really".

That black people tend to score poorly in intelligence tests is
*true* - and has been known for some 200 years now.

It is not believed to be some kind of artefact of the testing
process - it's thought to be primarily because most black people
tend to come from poor countries - or are immigrants - and thus
tend to suffer from the adverse effects of poorer education,
poorer nutrition, poorer health care, etc.

I really do not see why James Watson should have been
widely condemned by the press and then suspended from
his post

Because he violated a taboo.

Yes, exactly.

What other bits of scientific fact are on the PC crowd's
hitlist of things which must not be mentioned in public?

That lack of women in jobs with super high IQ requirements
(mathematicians, physics professors, etc) is not a result of
discrimination or stereotype threat but maybe a natural thing.

Equally ridiculous :-(

Race. Sex. What about age? Are we allowed to say that
many old people might not be as good at their jobs as young
people because their brains have stopped working properly?

The "everybody's equal" drivel might be relatively harmless
at cocktail parties, but it has gone much too far when it
gets real scientists suspended from their jobs.
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