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Nobel Prize-Winning American Scientist James Watson Stripped of Honorary Titles

posted by chromas on Sunday January 13 2019, @10:00PM   Printer-friendly
from the race-to-disgrace dept.

takyon writes:

James Watson: Scientist loses titles after claims over race

Nobel Prize-winning American scientist James Watson has been stripped of his honorary titles after repeating comments about race and intelligence.

In a TV programme, the pioneer in DNA studies made a reference to a view that genes cause a difference on average between blacks and whites on IQ tests. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory said the 90-year-old scientist's remarks were "unsubstantiated and reckless". Dr Watson had made similar claims in 2007 and subsequently apologised.

He shared the Nobel in 1962 with Maurice Wilkins and Francis Crick for their 1953 discovery of the DNA's double helix structure.

Dr Watson sold his gold medal in 2014, saying he had been ostracised by the scientific community after his remarks about race. He is currently in a nursing home recovering from a car accident and is said to have "very minimal" awareness of his surroundings.

Previously: Disgraced Scientist is Selling his Nobel Prize

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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by crafoo on Monday January 14 2019, @01:53AM (3 children)

    by crafoo (6639) on Monday January 14 2019, @01:53AM (#786208)

    Freedom of expression means hearing things you do not agree with on occasion. Just because you authoritarian bootlickers have censored and silenced nearly every other major platform does not mean that your detached, insular, echo chambers are desirable, benificial, or progressive.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @09:01AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @09:01AM (#786368)

    Freedom of expression means hearing things you do not agree with on occasion.

    If I promise to not mind it when it happens "on occasions", will you spare me for the rest of time?
    Lately, I'm hearing them most of the time instead of just occasionally.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @09:25PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @09:25PM (#786641)

      If you disagree with most of the things you hear, maybe it's you who is wrong.

    • (Score: 2) by crafoo on Tuesday January 15 2019, @11:17PM

      by crafoo (6639) on Tuesday January 15 2019, @11:17PM (#787101)

      I hear things I don't agree with quite frequently too. It's cool though. I've thought through what I believe and why I believe. I feel fairly secure, and I'm happy to consider someone's point if they've also taken the time to think it through and support it and do not frame it as a personal attack. You shouldn't need to be spared encountering people you disagree with. This is a normal thing, and is what is expected when you take part in an free society.