Watson: Blacks less intelligent than Whites?

[openeyes]

Originally Posted by Brutha

The point of science is always to increase the knowledge available.

One thing I'll point out is that in the 1800s some fields of science such as anthropology were used to "prove" the superior intellect of white people, thus justifying the colonization of everyone else. How was such proven? Through advanced methods such as seeing how much lead shot a skull could hold The more lead shot, the larger the available brain space and therefore, obviously, the smarter the person/race ...

People were paid by museums/research centers to bring back Native American skulls for such research, which often involved inciting battles and killing dozens of Native Americans for their heads. This wasn't fringe science, it was mainstream.

Perhaps the point of science SHOULD always be to improve knowledge, but in reality it's often been used for political ends.

[Uplift]

Originally Posted by openeyes

One thing I'll point out is that in the 1800s some fields of science such as anthropology were used to "prove" the superior intellect of white people, thus justifying the colonization of everyone else. How was such proven? Through advanced methods such as seeing how much lead shot a skull could hold The more lead shot, the larger the available brain space and therefore, obviously, the smarter the person/race ...

People were paid by museums/research centers to bring back Native American skulls for such research, which often involved inciting battles and killing dozens of Native Americans for their heads. This wasn't fringe science, it was mainstream.

Perhaps the point of science SHOULD always be to improve knowledge, but in reality it's often been used for political ends.

Exactly. Science survives today, like it did back then, because of funding and allowance by the powers to be. All that opposed those powers were eliminated, all that complied fostered in a concerted, comprehensive plan. Science is also like a religion, complete with its ego driven heirarchy (just have a look at Piltdown Man) intent on self preservation. Otherwise we would all be driving cars that don't wear out and don't damage the environment. People know how to build them. Governments and scientists dismiss and repress them. They don't make it to the drawing board. Power and profit motivates our culture. No money, no like, no science.

As mags points out, scientists were and are the ultimate propaganda tool, (Darwin) just like religion, to justify our culture's claim as the 'ultimate, natural, all conquering super being', and to justify the 'natural' destruction of anyone deemed necessary, in the quest for power, and profit... greed. Adolph Hitler employed the same tactics, but wasn't as good at it. The paperwork and despicable trail of destruction is all there, crystal clear, for anyone really interested in locating it. In our culture's arrogance, they never figured it was necessary to cover their tracks. They never figured the 'stupid brutes' would be around, and that anyone would be examining them and their actions. I had to study it to get my degree in Indigenous Australian Studies. Its all there, its sickening.

This thread, this question is sickening. It disgusts me. Exactly the same scenario exsisted in US college basketball. African Americans were deemed too stupid to ever be able to win games against the supreme white intelligence. They were considered athletic chimps, who ultimately would lose because of stupidity, and were subject to this same style of brutal, racist thought. Brave people resisted it, comprehensively showing its ignorance and falseness.

The very question is the product of the whole, long, fostered line of thought. It totally overlooks the sickening, disgusting, depraved violence inflicted on many cultures. It was legal to shoot Indigenous Australians for money not that long ago, they were considered vermin to be eradicated. Then they had to be licensed like dogs. As in the situation with many cultures, it was considered proven by science that they felt no pain, had brutish thick skins and skulls, and were lazy, and sneaky, so needed regular, vicious floggings to keep them in line. Women were fair game, raped and mutilated at will. Children were dispatched like baby rats. Thats what our ancestors got up to, and fostered and allowed... sickening.

Now on a site supposedly concerned with personal development, smartness, the question is bandied about again. No thought, no understanding, no intelligence for the people whose families were repeatedly, continuously tortured and brutally murdered and oblitherated. No thought, no comprehension, no compassion for the survivors of brute ignorance, brute power, brute cunning, brute science.

The fact that the question wasn't banned sickens me, the asker sickens and disgusts me. People get banned for profanity, for supposedly insulting each other, for supposedly not showing respect. What do you honestly think this question does to people who's fathers and mothers, and relatives were all too recently butchered? Hurling up facts to support the line of thought, with no regard, no comprehension. Play your game, claim over reaction, claim just wanting truth, claim proving it all away with the magnificence of science. Indigenous people's the world over know all about those lines, all too well.

If thats the best this site can do, its sickening and disgusting, depraved. Anything but smart and developed.

[Angela]

Uplift, your vitriolic reaction makes me wonder if you caught the OP's original drift -- that a Nobel Prize-winning scientist publically expressed an opinion, and the OP wonders, well, is it even possible to prove or disprove that opinion? And then a person who one would think would consider that opinion to be disparaging, assents!? The subject is surprising and thought-provoking, and smart people are right in discussing it. You don't want to leave that kind of discussion to the dumb people, do you?

I would hate to have a subject be barred from discussion here merely because it's politically incorrect.

[Brutha]

Originally Posted by openeyes

Perhaps the point of science SHOULD always be to improve knowledge, but in reality it's often been used for political ends.

Yes that's my point. Some people attack a scientist for a statement for policial reasons. That shouldn't happen on either end of the political spektrum.

I value freedom of scientific thought over political correctness based on the current zeitgeist.

[Sam988]

Originally Posted by Uplift

Exactly. Science survives today, like it did back then, because of funding and allowance by the powers to be. All that opposed those powers were eliminated, all that complied fostered in a concerted, comprehensive plan. Science is also like a religion, complete with its ego driven heirarchy (just have a look at Piltdown Man) intent on self preservation. Otherwise we would all be driving cars that don't wear out and don't damage the environment. People know how to build them. Governments and scientists dismiss and repress them. They don't make it to the drawing board. Power and profit motivates our culture. No money, no like, no science.

The difference between science and religion is that science is contantly improving and most importantly, it admits that it's not the owner of the truth, as religions won't admit.

Originally Posted by Uplift

This thread, this question is sickening. It disgusts me.

(...)

Now on a site supposedly concerned with personal development, smartness, the question is bandied about again.

(...)

The fact that the question wasn't banned sickens me, the asker sickens and disgusts me.
If thats the best this site can do, its sickening and disgusting, depraved. Anything but smart and developed.

Uplift, since your first post on this thread i could see your rage. All your posts here have been emotion-driven, and that's not always smart. If you think this question/thread is so sickening, i wonder what you keep doing here.

I suggest you go back to your IM forum and manifest a forum without this thread. After all, according to you reality manipulation experts, we create everything in our reality, right? So WHY, WHYYY did you create this thread, Uplift??? Lol...

[Savage]

FYI Uplift was permanently banned a couple days ago, so he won't likely be able to respond.

The reason was his insistence on posting personal attacks in violation of the forum rules, even after multiple warnings from the mods and a prior 10-day ban. I doubt this will come as a surprise to those who'd been following his recent posts. The worst ones were either edited or deleted by myself or other mods already.