Dr. James Watson Resigns.
October 28, 2007 by Abdul Kargbo
James D. Watson, the eminent geneticist who ignited an uproar last week with remarks about the intelligence of people of African descent, retired yesterday as chancellor of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory on Long Island, and from its board.
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Posted in Dr. James Watson, News, Race, Racism | Tagged Africans Less Intelligent, Current Events, Dr. James Watson, Dr. Watson, Hate Speech, Human Intelligence, James Watson, Nobel Prize, Racial Slur, Racism, Racist | 1 Comment
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It seems entirely plausible that Dr. Watson was misquoted. He denies the remarks in the suggested context.
Do I trust the press on this one – or anything for that matter? NO!
There is, of course, the danger that scientists, and perhaps Dr. Watson did so, will try to measure everything and compare and qualify everything that exists.
The question that arises is that of “who defines intelligence?”. I believe that, due to the dominance of Western science and technology in the last 300 years, most such definitions, as heard in the western world and in a western context will be defined by first-world scholars.
I think the discussion about who is more intelligent, just as that of physical differences between races should be considered unnecessary, if not unworthy.
A discussion about the stifling of human development and of the liberty to learn and better oneself in parts of the world and in various cultures and the role of religion in this regard needs to be encouraged. If intelligence is an, albeit artificial, measure of cultural and ethnical development, the discussion of different levels of intelligence in different communities should perhaps not be “tabu”.