News1 min ago
Dr James Watson a racist?
32 Answers
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles /news/news.html?in_article_id=488026&in_page_i d=1770
Should not this very learned man be allowed to have an opinion, without him being investigated by the Equality and Human Rights Commision?
Dr James Watson's remarks were discussed on a phone-in on LBC radio this morning. It soon became apparent that those Black persons who phoned in were vey angry. But they did nothing to support their arguments, because they had not researched the matter, so therefore came across a little silly to put it mildly.
The radio shows presenter asked one caller to name a Black person that had famously invented anything. He replied that there were many things that were invented by Blacks. When encouraged to name any, the person repeated that there were many but he could not name them, only that their ideas had been stolen by the White Man.
Another caller seemed convinced that the the electric light bulb was invented by a Black man, who he couldn't name. When the presenter told him that it was invented by Thomas Edison, the caller called the presenter a liar.
Should not this very learned man be allowed to have an opinion, without him being investigated by the Equality and Human Rights Commision?
Dr James Watson's remarks were discussed on a phone-in on LBC radio this morning. It soon became apparent that those Black persons who phoned in were vey angry. But they did nothing to support their arguments, because they had not researched the matter, so therefore came across a little silly to put it mildly.
The radio shows presenter asked one caller to name a Black person that had famously invented anything. He replied that there were many things that were invented by Blacks. When encouraged to name any, the person repeated that there were many but he could not name them, only that their ideas had been stolen by the White Man.
Another caller seemed convinced that the the electric light bulb was invented by a Black man, who he couldn't name. When the presenter told him that it was invented by Thomas Edison, the caller called the presenter a liar.
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http://www.answers.com/topic/blood-transfusion ?cat=health
Cannot see any reference of a Black Man inventing the blood transfusion system. Could you provide his name and details?
The Austrian/American Karl Landsteiner did much work ie discovered the different blood groups etc.
http://www.answers.com/karl+landsteiner?cat=te chnology&gwp=11&method=3&ver=2.0.1.458
Cannot see any reference of a Black Man inventing the blood transfusion system. Could you provide his name and details?
The Austrian/American Karl Landsteiner did much work ie discovered the different blood groups etc.
http://www.answers.com/karl+landsteiner?cat=te chnology&gwp=11&method=3&ver=2.0.1.458
anotheroldgit are we measuring intelligence based on what a demographic section of the worlds community has managed to invent??? at this point i could throw in loads of stuff about repression preventing invention for a large chunk of history, or talk about the slave trade building the fortunes of the UK and freeing the white mens time to get inventing new stuff while the black workers did the hard slog, or i could just do a quick google search for some inventors (but so could you) - but you know what i can't be bothered - the people on your phone line thingy should have just said, wasn't it an african that invented humanity seeking as the origin of our species is from that neck of the woods and be done with it.
Watson does indeed sound like a tired old fool spouting last centuries bigotries - but then again its all publicity for his new book i guess
Watson does indeed sound like a tired old fool spouting last centuries bigotries - but then again its all publicity for his new book i guess
Can I have some seats for when he explains this to Condelisa Rice?
If you read the comments below the story you see that even the Mail readers think that it's a ridiculous generalisation and that he's lost his marbles
By the way the electric light bulb wasn't invented by Edisson although he rathre perfected it Joseph Swan received a British Patent a year before Edisson
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Swan
But he wasn't black
If you read the comments below the story you see that even the Mail readers think that it's a ridiculous generalisation and that he's lost his marbles
By the way the electric light bulb wasn't invented by Edisson although he rathre perfected it Joseph Swan received a British Patent a year before Edisson
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Swan
But he wasn't black
The Jews have just won their 159th Nobel prize, and there are less than 14m of them in the world.
The millions Arabs collectively have won nowhere near that many, (?), but that is not because they are less intelligent, but probably because of the cultural backwardness imposed on them by the koran.
Africa? Tribalism and dictators maybe?
Colonialism wasn't all bad to have imparted some western values and progressive mind sets, despite its obvious negative aspects.
The millions Arabs collectively have won nowhere near that many, (?), but that is not because they are less intelligent, but probably because of the cultural backwardness imposed on them by the koran.
Africa? Tribalism and dictators maybe?
Colonialism wasn't all bad to have imparted some western values and progressive mind sets, despite its obvious negative aspects.
Priceless. And, as always with AOG, utterly hilarious.
My favourite phrases are these: "a very learned man" and "researched the matter".
anotheoldgit, have you heard of the historian David Irving? He is "a very learned man". He's also spent years of his life desperately researching the Holocaust in an attempt to prove it never happened. He's a raving racist and anti-semitic, but I bet he could beat me in a debate on the subject, and you (assuming you'd not be taking his side), and probably 99% of the general public.
Should we all stand and applaud because he can wheel out his learning in order to out-argue callers to LBC radio? Is that how it works? Or do you just go along with that when it's a racial matter, as expected?
My favourite phrases are these: "a very learned man" and "researched the matter".
anotheoldgit, have you heard of the historian David Irving? He is "a very learned man". He's also spent years of his life desperately researching the Holocaust in an attempt to prove it never happened. He's a raving racist and anti-semitic, but I bet he could beat me in a debate on the subject, and you (assuming you'd not be taking his side), and probably 99% of the general public.
Should we all stand and applaud because he can wheel out his learning in order to out-argue callers to LBC radio? Is that how it works? Or do you just go along with that when it's a racial matter, as expected?
The whole idea of a general IQ is nonsense and out dated anyway but that's another subject:
The reseach difference we're talking about here is not large but 15 points and reseached in the US could easily be attributed to environmental factors.
In fact in the US Black scores have risen 5 or 6 points over Hispanic scores
How do you account for that on race grounds?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flynn_effect
This is simply a case of people selecting some evidence and ignoring others based on their own predudices
The reseach difference we're talking about here is not large but 15 points and reseached in the US could easily be attributed to environmental factors.
In fact in the US Black scores have risen 5 or 6 points over Hispanic scores
How do you account for that on race grounds?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flynn_effect
This is simply a case of people selecting some evidence and ignoring others based on their own predudices
From his wikipedia entry
"Watson has repeatedly supported genetic screening and genetic engineering in public lectures and interviews, arguing that stupidity is a disease and the "really stupid" bottom 10% of people should be cured. He has also suggested that beauty could be genetically engineered, saying "People say it would be terrible if we made all girls pretty. I think it would be great."
He has been quoted in The Sunday Telegraph as stating "that if the gene (for homosexuality) were discovered and a woman decided not to give birth to a child that may have a tendency to become homosexual, she should be able to abort the foetus." The biologist Richard Dawkins wrote a letter to The Independent claiming that Watson's position was misrepresented by The Sunday Telegraph article and that Watson also considered the possibility of having a heterosexual child to be a valid reason for abortion.
On the issue of obesity, Watson has also been quoted as saying: "Whenever you interview fat people, you feel bad, because you know you're not going to hire them."
For very learned man read very learned nutter.
"Watson has repeatedly supported genetic screening and genetic engineering in public lectures and interviews, arguing that stupidity is a disease and the "really stupid" bottom 10% of people should be cured. He has also suggested that beauty could be genetically engineered, saying "People say it would be terrible if we made all girls pretty. I think it would be great."
He has been quoted in The Sunday Telegraph as stating "that if the gene (for homosexuality) were discovered and a woman decided not to give birth to a child that may have a tendency to become homosexual, she should be able to abort the foetus." The biologist Richard Dawkins wrote a letter to The Independent claiming that Watson's position was misrepresented by The Sunday Telegraph article and that Watson also considered the possibility of having a heterosexual child to be a valid reason for abortion.
On the issue of obesity, Watson has also been quoted as saying: "Whenever you interview fat people, you feel bad, because you know you're not going to hire them."
For very learned man read very learned nutter.
There's stupid people of all races, nationalities, colours. Are we examining like for like? A person who, in Africa, is given the same education opportunities as someone elsewhere? I doubt it. I think the worst thing is those who are given the opportunity to learn, whether black, white, green or yellow, and who waste that opportunity for whatever reason.
Dr Watson is old and possibly senile. Just smile politely at him and then move on and ignore him.
Dr Watson is old and possibly senile. Just smile politely at him and then move on and ignore him.
Once again one cannot open a debate on a subject that has been reported in nearly every newspaper and every TV news channel, without the usual news topic vultures immediately swooping down to attack and stiffle honest debate.
Maggoty who posted his contribution, but did not back it up with any proof of truth.
Booldawg Once again a statement without anything to back it up. Maybe Asians are more intelligent than whites, but then Asia is a continent with many races, could we be more specific? Also this was not the argument, just to remind once again it was Dr Watson that stated that Whites were more intelligent than Blacks.
IggyB Well what can we say about your contribution to the debate?
Repression preventing invention for a large chunk of history, Various sections of humanity have been repressed over the years but that has not stopped them from inventing.
Slave trade building the fortunes of the UK and freeing the white mens time to get inventing new stuff while the black workers did the hard slog,
Continued:-
Maggoty who posted his contribution, but did not back it up with any proof of truth.
Booldawg Once again a statement without anything to back it up. Maybe Asians are more intelligent than whites, but then Asia is a continent with many races, could we be more specific? Also this was not the argument, just to remind once again it was Dr Watson that stated that Whites were more intelligent than Blacks.
IggyB Well what can we say about your contribution to the debate?
Repression preventing invention for a large chunk of history, Various sections of humanity have been repressed over the years but that has not stopped them from inventing.
Slave trade building the fortunes of the UK and freeing the white mens time to get inventing new stuff while the black workers did the hard slog,
Continued:-
Well this is a cracker, and I was wondering how long before it was all the fault of the slave trade. Victorian working classes were one step from slavery, but did that stop them? No some of the best inventions were carried out during this era. Or was it ony the rich upper classes that invented things? And are you saying that if there had been no slave trade, and no white people in Africa, we could have expected some marvelous inventions coming out of Africa?
People on your phone line thingy? It was a radio phone-in have you never of such?
Should have just said, wasn't it an african that invented humanity seeking as the origin of our species is from that neck of the woods and be done with it.
Should that have been seeing as the origin? Incidently one cannot invent such things as Humanity. And for a person who doesn't know such simple things as this, to call a person with Dr before his name, and a Nobel prize winner to boot, "a tired old fool spouting last centuries bigotries", is rather insulting, to the learned classes. But then why not use a few insults when you cannot get your point across in a more mature way.
jake-the-peg Thanks for the link but if you go to other links one can find that the light bulb was invented by a guy called Henricg Globel who used a carbonized filament of bamboo inside a glass bulb in 1854 when the first true light bulb was invented. No he wasn't black either, but I would like to bet that those Daily Mail readers were.
NJOK Well I have come to expect the usual profane remarks from him.
Continued:-
People on your phone line thingy? It was a radio phone-in have you never of such?
Should have just said, wasn't it an african that invented humanity seeking as the origin of our species is from that neck of the woods and be done with it.
Should that have been seeing as the origin? Incidently one cannot invent such things as Humanity. And for a person who doesn't know such simple things as this, to call a person with Dr before his name, and a Nobel prize winner to boot, "a tired old fool spouting last centuries bigotries", is rather insulting, to the learned classes. But then why not use a few insults when you cannot get your point across in a more mature way.
jake-the-peg Thanks for the link but if you go to other links one can find that the light bulb was invented by a guy called Henricg Globel who used a carbonized filament of bamboo inside a glass bulb in 1854 when the first true light bulb was invented. No he wasn't black either, but I would like to bet that those Daily Mail readers were.
NJOK Well I have come to expect the usual profane remarks from him.
Continued:-
Priceless. And, as always with AOG, utterly hilarious. Always prepared to please "Old Man"
My favourite phrases are these: "a very learned man" and "researched the matter".
One again straight in without any thought "a very learned man" isn't this correct since he is a doctor (highest academic degree) and also a Nobel Prize Winner. Perhaps you should start to research a subject before making a fool of yourself. Regarding our comments on David Irving you have already admitted that he could beat you in debate, this must mean you do not know enough on the subject to enable you to prove your argument. Therefore how can you prove if the the Holocaust did or didn't take place. And then calling him a raving racist and anti-Semitic does not help your argument. If he is talking a load of tosh leave it to those of the same or better intellect to show him the error of his ways. Incidently you are wrong once again Dr Watson was not on LBC Radio out-arguing callers, as you incorrectly stated, read my post again.
My question was about a topical news item. Am I not allowed to raise it just because it includes racial matter?
For all those interested in such matters:-
http://www.inventionexpose.com/Famous+Black+In ventors.1102.htm
My favourite phrases are these: "a very learned man" and "researched the matter".
One again straight in without any thought "a very learned man" isn't this correct since he is a doctor (highest academic degree) and also a Nobel Prize Winner. Perhaps you should start to research a subject before making a fool of yourself. Regarding our comments on David Irving you have already admitted that he could beat you in debate, this must mean you do not know enough on the subject to enable you to prove your argument. Therefore how can you prove if the the Holocaust did or didn't take place. And then calling him a raving racist and anti-Semitic does not help your argument. If he is talking a load of tosh leave it to those of the same or better intellect to show him the error of his ways. Incidently you are wrong once again Dr Watson was not on LBC Radio out-arguing callers, as you incorrectly stated, read my post again.
My question was about a topical news item. Am I not allowed to raise it just because it includes racial matter?
For all those interested in such matters:-
http://www.inventionexpose.com/Famous+Black+In ventors.1102.htm
Blimey, that's a long one. Has nurse not brought your pills today?
- I wasn't disputing that he Watson is learned. In fact, I was agreeing that he was.
- What I found amusing was the suggestion that his learnedness and research should indemnify him from investigation. Just because he's done some research, it doesn't mean he's objective. Does it? Should the commission defer to him because he's a doctor?
- That's why I gave the example of David Irving. A man who, if anything, has gone out of his way to use his reseach is the least objective way possible - as evidenced by his links with the NSDAP in Germany (a Neo-nazi party). Should he be safe from scrutiny too because he's spent his life looking for evidence to support a pre-conceived argument, whereas the rest of us haven't?
- Jehovah's Witnesses spend their lives constructing arguments that support their beliefs. That's why when they knock on your door, they have an answer for everything. Should we accept what they say and leave any debate to theologians who have spent as much time on it as them?
- AOG, please discuss whatever you like. I've just noticed an angle to your postings, that's all. You're fixated with race. Whatever keeps you ticking along, though, buddy.
- I wasn't disputing that he Watson is learned. In fact, I was agreeing that he was.
- What I found amusing was the suggestion that his learnedness and research should indemnify him from investigation. Just because he's done some research, it doesn't mean he's objective. Does it? Should the commission defer to him because he's a doctor?
- That's why I gave the example of David Irving. A man who, if anything, has gone out of his way to use his reseach is the least objective way possible - as evidenced by his links with the NSDAP in Germany (a Neo-nazi party). Should he be safe from scrutiny too because he's spent his life looking for evidence to support a pre-conceived argument, whereas the rest of us haven't?
- Jehovah's Witnesses spend their lives constructing arguments that support their beliefs. That's why when they knock on your door, they have an answer for everything. Should we accept what they say and leave any debate to theologians who have spent as much time on it as them?
- AOG, please discuss whatever you like. I've just noticed an angle to your postings, that's all. You're fixated with race. Whatever keeps you ticking along, though, buddy.
Unfortunately this is a subject which can never be discussed for the very reasons we have seen, it is immediately seen as racism.
However I would imagine that if you did a serious bit of research you would find that different ethinc groups did differ in their general characteristics including intelligence. I certainly wouldn't argue that for example "Black" people for want of a better word are far more athletic than whites in general, is that racist or a simply biological fact?
There will however be no reasonable debate/research on the issue.
However I would imagine that if you did a serious bit of research you would find that different ethinc groups did differ in their general characteristics including intelligence. I certainly wouldn't argue that for example "Black" people for want of a better word are far more athletic than whites in general, is that racist or a simply biological fact?
There will however be no reasonable debate/research on the issue.
He should be allowed to say whatever he thinks. If we want to uphold the right to free speech in this country, then we cannot be afford to be selective. Give us all the chance to debate his opinions. Who decides what is racist and what is not anyway? We are fast losing the right to criticise anything,anyone,anwyhere. IMHO this is not acceptable.
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