The Dumbbell Curve
October 18, 2007
Sure, James Watson helped discover DNA. But what’s he done for us lately?
Not much, as it turns out, unless you like to collect creepy, stupid, racist remarks by famous scientists. Maybe he can write a book with Charles “Bell Curve” Murray.
October 18, 2007 at 9:17 pm
On the one hand, Watson didn’t get to where he is by being dumb, so if he expresses an idea that isn’t popular, maybe the unpopular idea isn’t wrong. OTOH, he kinda/sorta completely ignored Rosalind Franklin’s contributions to the discovery of DNA, which is pretty fucked up.
Every famous scientist freaks out a little. I’m thinking mostly of Halley here, but I’m sure there’s more. That’s why *I* want to be a famous scientist, just so I can publish lots of crackpot theories… Now I admit, “dinosaurs living in the middle of the Earth” is a much, much cooler idea than “black people are dumb”, but you get the general idea. Right??
I need to read more…