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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
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @09:04AM (1 child)
I have seen exactly that happen here. MLM positions don't come up very often but when they do Oh boy do you know who applied. The usual list of those waiting in the wings, those who had done the hard yards acting at the higher level, the pets, the ambitious, the mediocre and the others.
Then a minority gets the position.
Even worse when they give it to a female (to balance! the genders) who is just useless.
Worse is when those overlooked just don't step up anymore. Why bother. Another substandard applicant will beat you out next time.
I watched a guy flog himself silly for months doing his job and that of a person above him who should by all rights not even be allowed to lead a team. He damn near cried with relief when she left for her promotion. Yes. Promotion. The next person in the chair was hit full force the minute they started with next to no support. For that. Poor Bastard, he was a decent guy who happened to step into the pile of crap left behind. Eventually he managed to rally the managers under him but geez it was painful.
If affirmative action leads to hiring the wrong people then it can backfire very badly.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 15 2019, @12:03AM
I worked at a company where things got so bad that HR sent out a letter and apologized to the whole company. I'd quit before then. They were staffing jobs with people who had no (job) qualifications at all.