Remember science class in high school or college? Memorizing the details of the TCA cycle or the electron transport chain - BORING!!!! (no offense, Ralph).
I always had a hard time memorizing facts from a book. So, rather than describe the topic of today's lesson in a lot of boring detail, I'll let this video clip do the work. I promise, you'll never forget how a protein is synthesized after watching this.
In an interview with The Sunday Times (UK), published on October 14, Nobel laureate Dr. James Watson, co-discoverer of the structure of DNA, expressed his concern about the future of Africa, saying that "all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours - whereas all the testing says not really". He went on to say that although his hope is that everyone is equal, "people who have to deal with black employees find this not true". You can read the full article here.
The reaction to Dr. Watson's statements was swift. He was forced to cancel his UK tour to promote his new book after many of his speaking engagements were canceled by organizers, and the Board of Trustees of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York issued this statement regarding his comments. A day later, they suspended Dr. Watson of 'administrative responsibilities pending further deliberation by the Board'.
Since they were published, Dr. Watson has apologized and retracted his statements, admitting that "there is no scientific basis for such a belief." The problem is, the damage has been done. When a scientist with the clout of Jim Watson makes a statement, no matter how outrageous or unfounded, it gives someone with similar beliefs the feeling of credibility. The beauty of scientific method is that it is designed to test hypotheses by collecting measurable evidence or data. Making a blanket statement like 'black people are less intelligent than white people' is inherently untestable. How can 'intelligence' be measured?
In an ironic twist, this paper, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America four days after the Times article, reported that "gossip has a strong influence on the resulting behavior even when participants have access to the original information (i.e., direct observation) as well as gossip about the same information." So, even if quantitative data existed that showed black people and white people had equal levels of intelligence, many would still choose to believe Watson's statements.
