Eugenics: The Lie of Science

It's interesting reading the various threads of science and UFOs, Ghosts, etc. What science does and doesn't prove. How science is or isn't sometimes as dogmatic and close-minded as religion. But I didn't start this thread to talk about that. I'm listening to Russ Par this morning and he brings up that Nobel scientist (who happens to be a believer in eugenics) who talked about how Black people (he mentioned Africans...but everyone knows he MEANT all Black people) are inferior to White people. I wanted to call in badly, especially after how I was shocked to find out how many people believe this! Even some Black people called up and agreed. Now listen, as a Black person I have to ask ALL of the Black people on this forum espcially (but the topic is open to anyone of course). Is that simply self-cultural ignorance? Are Western Blacks so ignorant of our own history that we fall prey to arguments that are pro-Eugenics?

People, despite the fact that we were brought up on European culture, European civilization (Rome, Greece, Aristotle, Enlightenment, etc) and despite the fact that we are subtley taught that Africa is and has always been ignorant and inferior...Africa is FULL of wonderful and prosperous civilizations that we Westerners simply don't know about.

It's funny to hear people talk about intelligence, and not take poverty into account. A non-impoverished country has the resources to build an educated and enlightened people. I would also like to know what the good Scientist thinks of Western Europe during the Middle Ages if Europeans are so inherently intellectually superior. During that time, there was a Golden Age in Western Africa centered around Medieval kingdoms like Mali...which had a intellectual center based around Timbuktu. Even up to the 1800s, you had advanced and sophisticated communities in Africa like the Ashanti Confederacy.

Listen, I can go on and on...but I just had to get that out.

I don't recall the stats of people who never pick up a book again after high school or college, but I found it was alarming. If all we know is the force-fed curriculums of high school and college, maybe this explains some of it.

Of course, there is always the “experts” in every American era to affirm using “scientific” study the inferiority of blacks. It seems every newly arriving immigrant knows to stay away from identifying with the American Black and you will excel in this society. It’s reinforced in so many subtle and not so subtle ways.

after high school is party because we live in a materialistic society. Knowledge isn't as sought after as say...money. But I'm a firm believer that knowledge is power.

It's not the only route, nor is it the only end point of the knowledge route. But it can be.

Fact is, we don't. We don't know how most of the polygenic traits affect phenotype, and we don't know how much environmental factors influence the activation of many genes. We would also be incredibly biased in identifying valuable genes, since we are part of the system we are attempting to quantify and study. In other words, eugenics with regard to humans would be a huge disaster due to a lack of fundamental knowledge, quite apart from the horrible trampling of civil liberties and basic human values that such a program would entail.

or IQ. Standardized tests are culturally biased, thats well known. There are also different forms of intelligence. Book smart is one, but there are many people who for whatever reason (learning disabilities, processing disorders in the brain) can't learn that way and in the traditional classroom appear slow while in other real life situations are quite intelligent.
And what makes one culture "more intelligent" than another? Technology? A lot of these older cultures had oral traditions so strong that technology was not needed to record/keep information. The music and other stories can be fantastically information rich even if to outsiders they appear to be mere stories...
I was shocked in this day and age to see a scientist of Watson's stature admit to these outdated ideas. In almost 20 years in the field of biology, I have never EVER encountered anyone personally who believes in eugenics....

learning a new language takes place in one of the most sophisticated parts of the brain. And how most Africans are fluent in more than 2 or 3 languages. While most Westerners only know one?

My former partner was fluent in five languages. He'd grown up bouncing from country to country and picked up languages along the way. I tried to get him to learn German pronounciation and he just didn't get it at all.

any individual to be sterilized on its own arbitrary terms. You have no constitutional right to refuse the government ordering you to be sterilized. It isn't done so much anymore but it's still valid Supreme Court law. Check Bell v. Buck for authority. ("Four generations of imbeciles is enough.")