Incredulity
Oh, dear. Dr. Watson has gone and done it again. Now, he’s known for being quite the contrarian and for making controversial statements that get people up in arms. When I interviewed Dr. Watson on TWIS a couple of weeks ago there was no hint of his opinions on race.
Anyhoo, he’s stirred himself up one bee’s nest of trouble by insinuating that people of African descent are less intelligent than anyone else. He bases this idea on the hypothesis that there should be differences between peoples evolving in disparate locations.
“There is no firm reason to anticipate that the intellectual capacities of peoples geographically separated in their evolution should prove to have evolved identically.”
Sure, ok. I can accept that statement. But, not this one:
“”all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours… people who have to deal with black employees find this not true”.
He’s probably basing the comment on the idea that because whites and blacks evolved in different places with different cognitive demands they probably don’t have the same intelligence. Each might have specific cognitive strengths or weaknesses. But, the way he phrased the second bit just comes across as discriminatory. It sounds as if he means different is lesser. Any intelligent person should realize that A+B does not = C in this case.
Filed under Science & Politics | Comments (2)King Kong Blues
So, I’m not really watching King Kong. I saw the original a long time ago, but I’ve never seen the Peter Jackson remake. Marshall is in the living room watching Mr. Jackson’s amazing movie, and I find myself unable to even listen to the thing. I’m sure the movie is amazing, but to me the story is just too sad to bring into my life. Yet, here I am writing about it (first entry in ages actually).
The story of King Kong is one of misunderstanding, greed, and the terrible acts of which humans are capable. Throughout the past couple of hours I have found myself tense and almost sick to my stomach from thinking about the inevitable end of the film. That big ape should have been left alone, just as scores of indigenous peoples throughout history should have been left alone. I know that’s probably a bit of a stretch, but I can’t help but be reminded of so many terrible human acts that could have been averted if people weren’t so consistently greedy.
So, when I cry at the end of King Kong, it’s not just for Kong. It’s for much, much more, and that’s why I just can’t bring myself to watch it. I know, I probably shouldn’t be so sensitive. 😛
Filed under Reads and Watches | Comment (0)
