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Why give Africans IQ tests?
Call me crazy but I just don't believe that Africans are less intelligent than Europeans or Americans. Yes, it seems like every once in a while a scientist tries to prove that Africans are somehow inferior to the rest of us. You would think there are more pressing issues out there that they could be focusing their studies on...but I guess this one gets a lot of press.
James Watson, a Nobel Prize-winner for discovering the double-helix structure of DNA, is facing backlash in Britain after making this controversial statement: "All our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours - whereas all the testing says, not really," Watson told The Sunday Times. He recognized that the prevailing belief was that all human groups are equal, but that "people who have to deal with black employees find this not true." As a result of his comments, the British Science Museum has canceled the scientist's scheduled speech, saying he has gone too far. He's since retracted his statement and apologized, but he had to scrap his book tour.
That's the funny thing about scientists, so brilliant in their fields and so narrow-minded in other areas. Has anyone ever told this poor fellow that giving Western-style IQ tests to people worldwide is not really a fair way to assess people's true intelligence?
Filed under: Arts and Culture, Learning, Africa
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Karen Oct 25th 2007 9:56PM
And are you sure that they used a test deemed culturally biased?
Or maybe he is a scientist and interpreted the findings as opposed to inserting political opinion in his findings and it just happens that this particular study is not popular and even seems offensive.
Or maybe his bias tainted his interpretation.
There are all kinds of things unknown in this story but it could just be as he said.
Alice Oct 25th 2007 10:42PM
As a scientist (well, biology graduate student), I am disgusted by Watson's statements. I am not sure of the study to which he's referring, but I don't think that it is possible to gauge everyone's "intelligence" with any particular test.
Intelligence, I believe, is multi-faceted, manifested in a variety of ways, i.e. someone who is musically/artistically gifted may not score well on some standardized test, but there is no denying their genius.
Also, just being familiar with the format of testing (usually multiple choice tests) can be just as important as knowing the material on which one is being tested (such as prepping for SATs, GREs, MCATs, etc.)
Furthermore, the socio-economical factor is hugely influential. Someone with the resources to acquire knowledge has a huge advantage, so until we can eliminate all these discrepancies, no claim from any study will be convince me of the ridiculous conclusions that Watson has reached.
Christian Oct 26th 2007 3:30AM
1) What does this have to do with travel?
2) Have you read the bell curve?
Robobagins Oct 26th 2007 11:57AM
1. Why is this posted here?
2. Why is it so old and outdated? He apologized on the 19th stating "I cannot understand how I could have said what I am quoted as having said." And on the 25th he resigned from his job.