October 26, 2007

Who has defended America's most distinguished living scientist?

We're now into the second week of the latest ritual race humiliation, this time of the man who is probably America's most distinguished living scientist, James Watson. And who has spoken up for him? Besides this guy in Nigeria?

My published articles are archived at iSteve.com -- Steve Sailer

40 comments:

Anonymous said...

Phil Rushton speaks up for Watson in this (wow) NPR Radio interview:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15560402&sc=emaf

But Rushton's a Canadian... from that terrible "socialist" land with no First Amendment

Anonymous said...

BBC Radio 4 presented the Watson situation on The Moral Maze this week, http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/religion/moralmaze.shtml.

Slightly muted discussed, but the question of racial IQ came up several times. Outrageous stuff for the Beeb.

Wes Baker
Anniston, Alabama

Anonymous said...

I've never heard of Idang Alibi before, but that was a difficult article to read, and I'm neither black nor p.c. I can't imagine how difficult it was for him to write.

I think Africa's only hope is genetic engineering. What a blessing that would be!

Anonymous said...

"A man of intelligence recognises genuine criticism against him and takes steps to improve himself in order to prove his critics wrong. But for us blacks, our reaction is to abuse the man who expresses worries about our backwardness." -Idang Alibi

Who would have guessed that one of the most intelligent responses to Watson's comments would come from Africa.

Anonymous said...

Prof. Philippe Rushton defended Watson on NPR yesterday.

Anonymous said...

Here in the UK, the few members of the intelligentsia who’ve come out in support of either Watson’s right to be heard or backed the view that there might be racial differences in intelligence have tended to be on the Left. Scientists Richard Dawkins and Colin Blakemore have been the most public in backing the right of scientists to broach controversial subjects. The liberal Guardian’s blog, Comment is Free, has published the strongest defences of Watson, with psychologist and broadcaster Sue Blackmore saying essentially Watson’s right and we should be thinking about the implications for education ( http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/sue_blackmore/2007/10/dont_silence_the_scientists.html) and the editor of The Philosopher’s Magazine, Julian Baggini, discussing what can be termed ‘racism’, saying that its not racist to say that all the evidence suggests that there are different average intelligences around the world (http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/julian_baggini/2007/10/binary_limitations.html).

On the Right from what I've seen there's been a few arguing for free speech in science, and the Times published an editorial highlighting racial differences in athletic ability. Richard Lynn was on Radio 4 (our version of PBS - but far superior) debating the ethics of science on the Moral Maze on Thursday.

Anonymous said...

That Nigerian writer sounded like a love child born of Bill Cosby and Steve Sailor.

That's some hard medicine he's spooning out there. If he were a white scientists I'd be apoplectic. If he were an African American I know proper derogatory putdown. As such, I'm just confused as to how to feel or express it.

Can someone steeped in MSM culturally sensitivities and party doctrine provide guidelines on the appropriate method of indignation?

Anonymous said...

The next question is how many science-based Nobels will be given to black scientists in order for the awarding body to "prove" Watson wrong?

Dennis Mangan said...

Here's one, Colin Blakemore. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/
comment/columnists/guest_contributors
/article2702762.ece

Anonymous said...

Hofstra University on Long Island should hire Watson and build a research center around him and name it after him. Let Watson poach his best scientists from Cold Spring Harbor. Whatever Hofstra paid Watson or spent on the center would pay for itself in a short time in increased prestige for the school.

painlord2k@gmail.com said...

in my blog (italian language).

Anonymous said...

That poor fellow. His pain is obviously great, an expression of his caring. His words are wise, though.

The conditions of high birth and death rates may be just right for accelerated micro-evolution in Africa, like occurred in England in the late medieval period. Smart fellows like him, who have adopted the self-control and forward-thinking values of Christianity, will have a huge genetic footprint compared with the short-lived pagan-types who are being struck down by AIDS and other diseases. For example, the fertility rate in Nigeria is an incredible 5.5 children per woman, and the average life expectancy is only 47, with AIDS affecting over 5% of the population.

Of course, if the smart blacks continue a pattern of "black flight" out of Africa, such effects would be negated.

C. Van Carter said...

"We suffer from the five Ds: disorderliness, debts, diseases, deaths and disasters."

Like this sort of disorderliness. Note how it’s viewed locally: "Constant occurrence of child kidnap and even adults by secret cult groups is worrisome.” Only “worrisome”, because there are so many problems it's not the most urgent one.

Anonymous said...

Does Rushton count?

http://tinyurl.com/369fau

Anonymous said...

"Prof. Philippe Rushton defended Watson on NPR yesterday."


In terms of public relations Rushton defending Watson is kind of like like Ted Kaczynski defending Howard Zinn's radicalism.


Rushton is already radioactive; he is not a publicly accepted academic whose pristine reputation can help shield Watson.

Anonymous said...

Professor Rushton's interview is quite incredible when you realize that the woman interviewing him is african-american and that she really wanted to give some counter arguments but couldn't. This is the first time I've heard Professor Rushton speak and I'm very impressed.

Anonymous said...

We should go on our knees today and ask God why we do not appear as intelligent as our other brothers. I am confident God will reveal to us what we must do, and urgently too, to change our terribly unflattering circumstances.

In response, God left two suggestions over at Half Sigma:

1. Could I interest you in a program of improved nutrition and voluntary eugenics (i.e. measures aimed at getting poor women to voluntarily reduce their fertility rate while increasing the fertility rate of wealthy women)?

2. I recommend that poor Nigerian women be paid by the government to have at least one of their children by a sperm donor who happens to be a member of the Nigerian Mathematical Society.

God asked me add:

I hope this helps.

Anonymous said...

I tried submitting the story to Slashdot, and, while my submission is still listed as "Pending" [i.e. it hasn't been "Rejected" yet], I seriously doubt that they'll run with it.

Anonymous said...

PZ Myers (whom I usually deride as "PC Meyers") spoke out rather tepidly saying Watson shouldn't have been lost his job. Of course, he only said that after Watson had resigned. Even that was too much for some of his more batshit peers at ScienceBlogs.

I can't justify giving PC a full point under the Sailer ranking system but maybe he deserves a half-point.

Anonymous said...

Most science is government-funded, and the government believes in Diversity.

Gotta make sure you don't offend your benefactor. First rule of being a dependent.

Hard scientists who "s*** where they eat" politically on any subject are quickly squelched. "Social" scientists are not taken as seriously by the government, unless they preach outright Nazism, and sometimes not even then.

Anonymous said...

One way to view this, of course, is that certain elites do not want blacks to improve their IQ, so denial is the order of the day ...

Anonymous said...

Yeah, Watson's goose is cooked. What a sad end to an accomplished career. The one thing this has showed me is that nothing can resist the forces of PC. If they can shut down the president of Harvard and the co-discoverer of DNA, I'm certainly not opening my trap.

Curtis Crawford said...

Steve, mucho congratulations for finding the piece by Idang Alibi, an articulate, heartbreaking jeremiad against his people's failings, especially in Africa. He writes like a person of considerable intelligence.

But he does not escape the intellectual fog that invades the minds of so many people on the question of race and intelligence.
He begins his essay by asserting as a "self-evident truth," that "black people are less intelligent than the White people." But later he insists "that God has given intelligence in equal measure to all his children irrespective of the colour of their skin."

Unknown said...

I've never heard of Idang Alibi before, but that was a difficult article to read, and I'm neither black nor p.c. I can't imagine how difficult it was for him to write.

My sentiments exactly. It's very disarming for someone on my side of the fence to read something like that (I remember a similar article from an African journalist some time back - maybe the same writer?).

Ironically, his article (except for his silly assertion that all races are equally gifted within the skull) shows liberals the best way to disarm anti-black sentiment in WNs... not that they care (quite the contrary, natch).

Anonymous said...

SFG -- actually PC may have reached a tipping point (against it).

It is effective against elites who can be punished by other elites (loss of jobs, dating/marriage opportunities, etc). It is NOT effective against unemployed or underemployed men and women.

PC has had a long run during good times. As revenues decline world-wide in industrialized countries the goodie-handout is being drastically reduced. This brings real conflicts about real issues: who will get the most money out of government?

You can't have PC and not expect a huge fight politically over who get the goodies. Among them Affirmative Action is a non-starter when people are threatened economically.

And of course, some may question if they want PC or a cure, say for diabetes or other diseases that afflict lots of people. Including themselves or a family member.

Evil Neocon.

Anonymous said...

If you read the article closely, the African guy actually thinks that Africans are as intelligent as everybody else, and that they are somehow squandering their intelligence. He'd probably be a little mellower if he'd admit that Africans just aren't constitutionally equipped to build the kind of society he wants, and stop beating his people up. Harangues like this won't help Africans any more than criticizing nerdy white boys will help their pimp game.

Maybe in a decade or two we will have identified the genes that keep Africa down, and come up with treatments that would make Africans equal to others in reality, not just in slogans. Of course, that will never happen if PC inquisitors won't allow that line of research.

c23

Anonymous said...

Half Sigma points to another African journalist who has come out in Watson's favor.

Richard said...

"That Nigerian writer sounded like a love child born of Bill Cosby and Steve Sailor."

Dear Anonymous,

Kindly tell me who is the father and who is mom in that encounter?

Anonymous said...

SFG -- actually PC may have reached a tipping point (against it).

-Evil Neocon


You're more perceptive than I thought.

So how many years is it going to take to turn this dreadnaught around?

Anonymous said...

tommy said...

Half Sigma points to another African journalist who has come out in Watson's favor.


I love this quote from that article:

"So with the best environment and education, is it possible that a chimpanzee could one day attend international law classes at Oxford University?"

Yes, Mr. Kalyegira, I'm afraid so.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, Watson's goose is cooked

What the hell for? He's a scientific giant who can and should speak his mind without apology. Coulter lets it fly and thrives. She is easily the ballsiest rightwinger out there. She has demonstrated that if you simply refuse to genuflect to the Left you will win hearts and minds. The key is to bust the Left in the chops! Do not ask for an iota of their approval. They have no moral authority to grant approval.

Free speech is a winning issue with the public. They will support a speaker who refuses to back down. It's only when the envelope-pushing speakers cave that they lose public support.

Anonymous said...

I listened to the Moral Maze and was simply shocked. I could not believe I was hearing this on the BBC! Watson was sacrificed, but my early analysis is that this affair will have a large positive effect on the ability to discuss the reality of both the IQ gap and the hereditarian explanation for it.

James said...

So Africans can't do modernity, so what, I'll bet they're happier than us.

Anyways, the real issue here is whites who can't discuss reality.

Anonymous said...

Why isn't Columbia University eagerly trying to get Watson to give a talk there? I thought that was what the whole Mahmoud Ahmadinejad controversy was all about. Columbia University claimed it wasn't afraid of contrary opinions to the majority. They want such opinions discussed openly. Now is their chance.

TabooTruth said...

I honestly have no idea what NPR was thinking when they invited Rushton and thought they could strong arm him away from defending Watson. I guess that's what happens when you assume something is wrong because it feels wrong and you don't examine the evidence. I bet some listeners were pretty horrified! Especially in the beginning when he mentioned Brazil. That should have alerted some that he knew what he was talking about.

KlaosOldanburg said...

pinker and friends might have decided to wait it out for the next few years, until there is more concrete, irrefutable, evidence before they subject themselves to 'the galileo effect.'

that's not a terribly honorable thing to do, but it might be the best move strategically. despite his apparent success as a leader, i found watson's choice of words a bit 'aspergery,' and this makes the decision to risk a distinguished career defending him less appealing.

Anonymous said...

Kevin Macdonald, professor at CSULB, and far braver than most of the supposedly fearless race-realist academics and writer - for he dares to write honestly about the REAL racial taboo, has publicly supported Watson at his blog.

See here.

Anonymous said...

Can anyone tell me what IQ means?

Anonymous said...

Watson's basic scientific comment MIGHT have gone relatively unnoticed by the Morality Police, except that he made that extra comment about blacks at work and what everyone knows. That tripped the wire, I think. It alerted the obtuse.

Anonymous said...

Well, after about 10 days, my Slashdot submission was finally downgraded, from "Pending", to "Rejected".

I suppose maybe the Slashdot editors spent a few days emailing back and forth with each other, but finally they decided they just didn't want to touch the story.

Ironic, in that they seemed to be in a mood to criticize censorship this weekend:

Italy's First Steps in Censoring the Internet
Saturday October 27, 2007
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/27/1137253

The Kremlin Tightens Its Grip on the Internet
Sunday October 28, 2007
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/28/1239238