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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: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Sunday January 13 2019, @10:18PM (33 children)
PC police attack man in his nineties, who isn't even really aware of the world around him. Those are our brave Social Justice Warriors! But, they won't go to Saudi Arabia to demonstrate for women's rights, or gay rights, or any such thing.
We're gonna be able to vacation in Gaza, Cuba, Venezuela, Iran and maybe Minnesota soon. Incredible times.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 13 2019, @10:21PM (29 children)
Runaway defends unsubstantiated racist claims that lead to eugenics and genocide, news at 11.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 13 2019, @10:29PM (9 children)
There's nothing wrong with you that a steel pipe won't fix.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Sunday January 13 2019, @10:32PM (8 children)
I'm not a real good welder, but I can weld that steel pipe in place after you slide it into his anus.
We're gonna be able to vacation in Gaza, Cuba, Venezuela, Iran and maybe Minnesota soon. Incredible times.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 13 2019, @11:50PM
That escalated quickly!
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @12:25AM
Is that how you and the boat boys managed to say it wasn't gay? Seems likely to cause serious internal burns, but hey some people are into pain.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @04:15AM
Did you just threaten to ass-rape him?
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday January 14 2019, @07:23AM (4 children)
+Informative.
Tells heaps about the character of Runaway.
https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday January 14 2019, @07:41AM (3 children)
LOL As sophisticated as you seem to be sometimes, I wonder if you really understand something. Ninety percent of everything you read on the on the internet is bullshit. It's up to you to figure out which is the ten percent. The post above should have been as obvious as being beaten over the head with the aforesaid steel pipe: there's not enough iron in the human body to weld a pipe to it.
Geez, Louise, you actually have to hold some of these kid's hands!!
Super glue, on the other hand, has some interesting possibilities in that regard.
We're gonna be able to vacation in Gaza, Cuba, Venezuela, Iran and maybe Minnesota soon. Incredible times.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @08:57AM (2 children)
Ah, I see. You feel the urge to contribute to the 90%.
Is it because you love competitions with lots of players?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 15 2019, @08:11PM (1 child)
No, he gets paid by the post.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 15 2019, @09:59PM
The cheque is in the male?
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday January 14 2019, @12:41AM (18 children)
He does have one point though: the ME in general and the hardline Islamic parts of it in particular are shit for womens' basic rights. I have watched slackjawed as people who deride me for not being feminist enough for one reason or another then go on to say that if someone wants to hijab it's her business and the choice empowers her.
What. The. Actual. Fuck.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @01:06AM (4 children)
I am not certain, and I trust your reasoning in this matter over my own. Would this be a case where we are looking at a culture where first wave feminism has yet to happen in a Hegelian qualitative sense (as opposed to quantitative)?
(Score: 0, Troll) by NPC-131072 on Monday January 14 2019, @01:38AM (3 children)
No, Islam is the most progressive religion. [quran.com] This is why we on the left welcome it in our war against the nazis. [dailycaller.com] Azuma doesn't appreciate Islam as the progressive force for change it is. [theguardian.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @01:49AM (1 child)
Ah! My NPC fren! I've been meaning to ask you something! What is your opinion of Caitlin Johnstone, and what is your take on Germaine Greer's body of work?
(Score: 1) by NPC-131072 on Monday January 14 2019, @02:56AM
Hello fren,
I'm with Woody Guthrie on this one. [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday January 15 2019, @05:32AM
Again, your trolling attempts lack subtlety. These posts are the equivalent of Gilbert Gottfried when the situation calls for, say, Eddie Izzard. I appreciate the personalized attention, but the delivery is amateur and the hand is rather overplayed.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 4, Insightful) by takyon on Monday January 14 2019, @01:13AM (2 children)
I don't think the hijab should be banned. But we should also get rid of any remaining anti-mask laws [wikipedia.org] in this age of facial recognition (soon to be gait recognition).
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @01:43AM (1 child)
Get your strut on! [youtube.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @05:13AM
I saw your link but didn't click on it cause I thought "I gotta add in that Monty Python walking skit!" and rushed to do that first.
Then I thought I should check to see what kind of video you linked. Good stuff.
(Score: 2) by Arik on Monday January 14 2019, @01:18AM (2 children)
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 4, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @01:27AM
Only if it isn't cultural appropriation. ;-)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @01:40PM
I like you Arik, as much as it's possible for one person to like another in a non sexual way only by reading posts written on a bulletin board style messaging system.
Don't die.
If you're going to do that, at least wear one of those jackets that have on the back
'Don't shoot!
Not a muslim!'
Mmmmkay?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @01:51PM
According to My-Ass-min "islam is the most feminist religion".
I suspect the lot of them are either brainwashed or subjugated.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @05:46PM (5 children)
What if she actually wants to wear it? I know an Afghani family here in America. The women actually feel more comfortable covering their head out in public. Is that OK with you? Is there some sort of approval process that they need to go through in order to get an Azumi-approved exemption? Is there any other part of the dress code that needs your approval up front? Just asking (for my Afghani friends). I do, on the other hand, agree with you that much of the ME (and the Islamic world, in general) are shit for women's basic rights.
(Score: 2) by qzm on Monday January 14 2019, @07:49PM (3 children)
I'm pretty sure there were some Blacks who felt pretty damn uncomfortable sitting in the front of a bus not so long ago also....
However you are missing the point.
It could well be more comfortable for a motorcyclist to wear a full face helmet when they pop in to the bank.. But that doesn't mean the bank will allow it..
The bans are about clothing that hides ones identity.
Not all hijabs do.. and not all are banned.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @11:16PM (2 children)
No, I think I get the point. Perhaps you should go back and read what Azumi Hazuki actually wrote. Azumi apparently takes issue with Muslim women wearing a hijab, regardless of whatever reasons they may have. I, on the other hand, think that people should be allowed to wear whatever they feel comfortable wearing, even if I don't agree with their reasons. We don't have a dress code in the West. I also think black people should be allowed to sit wherever they want on the bus, regardless of what I might think about it. Why the hell are you liberal types so damn controlling anyway? And I think you need to learn some Islamic terminology. A hijab covers the hair. A niqab covers the whole head, including the face. Just so you know.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 15 2019, @02:21AM
We'll discuss it after they stop forcing prepubescent girls to wear a piece of cloth on their head to honor a god their parents claim to believe in
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday January 15 2019, @06:15AM
"Azuma," for the love of little green onions. It's like the most common surname after Tanaka and works as a given name too. It's like Johnson or Smith. Everyone in Japan knows or is an Azuma, including some pets, proportionally more so the closer to Tokyo your family is from IIRC. It's even written with the ideograph for "east."
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday January 15 2019, @05:38AM
My general feeling is "if they want to that's up to them," but there is some worry over *why* they want to. And it's a bit bizarre to call that feminism or empowerment given the roots of the hijab and its horrible cousin the niqab. The overarching theme is exactly the same as "if you would only dress more modestly you wouldn't have been raped," which is insulting as hell to women *and* men if you ask me; to women because it reduces us to, bluntly, a warm hole for the taking, and to men because it reduces them to the level of the beasts of the field.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by RandomFactor on Monday January 14 2019, @12:30AM (1 child)
Protesting in Middle Eastern countries without superior firepower conspicuously visible is contraindicated. It is a harsh reality that activists and activism are most needed where risk is highest, and against those governments and groups that respond the most mercilessly to criticism.
Those people are worthy of respect who apply their efforts outside of the tolerant western countries, even the slightest progress on human rights in some of these places can benefit millions (e.g. Lu Guang, detained and presumably RIP or in a 'reeducation' camp as of November 2018 [soylentnews.org])
В «Правде» нет известий, в «Известиях» нет правды
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 16 2019, @09:48AM
If everyone else puts down their weapons in the middle east there will be peace.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @09:11AM
Buzzz my man, why are you advocating suicide?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 13 2019, @10:26PM (4 children)
And SJWs are the newest form of totalitarian people.
They pretend they are interested in doing good, but what they REALLY want to do is silence the opinions of all those with whom they disagree.
This is not "doing good" : this is EVIL in its most dangerous form, which is evil which perpetrates evil deeds using "we are doing good" as a rationalization.
Do not believe these SJWs. They're not really about making the world better, they are about _forcing_ you to conform to their beliefs.
One of the most important books I have read in over 50 years of reading deals with this very phenomenon. I urge all of you who still read books to read it.
You can most likely get it for free via a library.
https://www.amazon.com/People-Lie-Hope-Healing-Human/dp/0684848597 [amazon.com]
(Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 13 2019, @10:49PM (1 child)
Plus, most SJWs are gay.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @07:26AM
And trans. And incels
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Arik on Monday January 14 2019, @01:17AM (1 child)
Just like "social conservatives" what they want is an activist government that enforces (their) morality.
They're the moral majority, come back in left-wing clothing.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by crafoo on Monday January 14 2019, @01:45AM
Yes, there is an overabundance of people who hate freedom and liberty. The difference is that the left calls themselves liberals and progressives. It's hilarious and they should be mocked for it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 13 2019, @10:34PM (11 children)
https://www.wired.com/story/silicon-valleys-first-founder-was-its-worst/ [wired.com]
just sayin'
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 13 2019, @10:52PM (10 children)
Nobel prize-winning scientists support eugenics.
Media personalities and politicians oppose it.
I know which way I'm voting.
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Sunday January 13 2019, @11:30PM (9 children)
The thing is, if the process were open, honest, justly applied, etc. eugenics would be a good idea. Now imagine that it's done by any current government.
Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 13 2019, @11:49PM (8 children)
No it wouldn't, diversity is strength and eugenics would end up making humanity into twisted outliers like Chihuahuas and Great Danes. Sure you've selected for some desirable traits, but eventually the genetic landscape is limited and humanity loses out as a whole. Maybe one day we'll know enough about genetics to manipulate our own makeup, but that should be a very scary prospect to anyone with half a brain.
Amusing how the average soylentil is very pro-freedom yet ideas like eugenics somehow get supported. Irony FTW!
(Score: 4, Insightful) by deimtee on Monday January 14 2019, @01:56AM (2 children)
People have this weird mistaken idea that because evolution is 'natural' it is this nice gentle process where species slowly improve. This is a long way from the truth.
Evolution is nasty, brutal, ruthless and wasteful. In any evolving species the majority of offspring are going to die in horrible ways.
If you think eugenics is bad, evolution is far worse. But that is what you are arguing for.
200 million years is actually quite a long time.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @03:40AM (1 child)
You were close to a decent point. Evolution is a natural process, eugenics is adding a human controlled layer on top where we select for traits we find desirable. I will 100% take a natural disaster causing mass death over human controlled genocide.
It is weird how a human brain can take one perceived brutality and use it to justify further brutality, but that is what you are doing. Besides, I'm not arguing FOR evolution, that will happen one way or another. Genocide will only add a quick burst to the death rate, then "evolution" AKA normal human living will continue the pretty standard death toll.
Or are you arguing we need to genocide entire populations in order to prevent future suffering? Thanos did you break out of the 4th wall?? You realize some basic math makes your crime against the universe pointless right? RIGHT?
(Score: 1) by Sulla on Monday January 14 2019, @05:53AM
All we need is a controlled breeding program for luck. That way the species cumulative luck across the planet will keep us safe from any enemy. Or so goes the species in Niven's universe.
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Reziac on Monday January 14 2019, @04:20AM (4 children)
Actually, diversity is Chihuahuas and Great Danes; eugenics is wolves.
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @05:24AM (2 children)
Eugenics "is a set of beliefs and practices that aims at improving the genetic quality of a human population" (wikipedia) through selective breeding. That is what led to the wildly different breeds of dogs like Chihuahuas and Great Danes, humans selectively breeding dogs for specific traits.
Were you going for a metaphorical take on it??
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @05:58PM (1 child)
Actually, eugenics is more like "Fuck you! Give me everything you have!" What's that? You were under the naive impression that eugenics was about "improving the genetic quality of a human population"? Such a silly fellow!
I hope this clarifies things for you.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 15 2019, @08:18PM
Heh, yeah that is how it actually goes down but that wasn't what we were discussing.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Michael on Monday January 14 2019, @02:40PM
Selectively bred (esp pedigree) dogs have high morphological variation at the expense of lower genetic variation within the breed. The genetic combined total across all dog breeds may have as much variation as the original wild population they're derived from, but it's distributed badly and results in entire breeds with undesirable traits which impact the animal's quality of life, mobility or independence.
Presumably a selection scheme which was more carefully designed and had more feedback built in would do better, but doing it today we may well be better off with gmos/designer puppies.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 13 2019, @10:37PM (43 children)
Here you have it everyone, at least a few users showing their true feelings about race and genetics.
SN is just another of the alt-right hidey holes which explains the chosen color scheme. We've known this for a while, but now the userbase is dwindling down to be only alt-right and their apologists. Too bad, I liked this place when there was more of a mix of viewpoints. 2016 really was a turning point when being racist seemed to become "OK" again since the SCROTUS was leading the charge. Maybe it is better to have these things out in the open, otherwise it is a bunch of dog whistles and confusing arguments.
While there are unpleasant side effects to our cultural progression they are far outweighed by the benefit of finally deciding that discrimination is bad. Yes that goes for white supremacist shit stains, as long as they aren't causing problems for others they can live out their lives being shitty people.
For The Mighty Buzzard and other site operators, it is time to realize what type of community you have around here and stop defending it as simple "trolling" or whatever. At least have the guts to speak the truth instead of the oblique defending of the alt-right agenda.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 13 2019, @10:44PM (9 children)
There's nothing inherently racist about acknowledging IQ statistics, there is something inherently stupid about ignoring science or engaging in racial discrimination. [npr.org] Is Harvard "alt-right"?
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 13 2019, @11:26PM (8 children)
Nope, alt-right is for white supremacists and their liter "cultural pride" supporters.
Harvard is indeed discriminating based on race along with every other affirmative action institution. Whether that is good or bad is not as clear according to your linked article.
There is nothing inherently racist with talking about IQ stats, but using them to say "white people are smarter than black people" is racist. That is not a statement supported by actual geneticists and the only supporters of such racist shit are fringe level non-experts with at-best degrees in unrelated fields.
Keep trying to spin racism as "just acknowledging the facts" if you want, anyone who bothers to read up on the topics will quickly see that the supporting evidence is riddled with factual errors and a healthy dose of "they're trying to censor us" which makes supparters think they are in some super-secret club of super-smart people willing to see "the truth".
IQ tests have gotten better for sure, have some amount of use but they say nothing about the genetics of intelligence. Know how I can say that with 100% confidence? Because geneticists don't even know how to define intelligence let alone the genes that affect it.
I think I'm done arguing around here, too much of a racist echo chamber in here. Keep lying to yourselves if you'd like, the majority of the world is moving on.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @12:07AM (6 children)
Not only racist, but racialist. That is, their theory is predicated on the idea that distinct races even exist. It's sort of like the racist version of the creationist theory of "kinds" that rejects Darwin and Wallace's conclusions while keeping DNA as window-dressing. And so too in racialist theory, DNA is relegated to window-dressing.
I think that the right-wingers are butthurt that they got routed by the more educated Soylentils from the left wing a few stories back.
These comments will be little more than right-wingers flinging poo, because they are too uneducated to understand why being so uneducated might be a problem!
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Arik on Monday January 14 2019, @01:11AM (5 children)
Yes, you have to be a racialist to be a considered racist, and racialism is btw the *false* idea that distinct human races currently exist. So it's all premised on a falsehood.
The ctrl-left just as much as the alt-right are openly and explicitly racialist. They merely invert each others hierarchies, for the most part. Both assume as self evident the idea that there are several distinct races that really exist, both are absolutely wrong on that point, and this poisons the thinking of both.
But there's something even stranger about the way the left wing radicals present this, because they do repeat the saying that races are socially constructed, which is logically inconsistent with racialism, but this doesn't stop them from consistently treating the current USA socially constructed "races" as essential categories privileged from analysis or criticism, the fundamental unalterable assumptions on which they anchor their worldview. This comes off as extraordinarily racist, and when the radicals in question identify as 'white' themselves it often assumes a patronizing tone that I could only compare to pro-slavery writings from previous centuries.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @05:27AM
Yeah, social progress is a complicated beast and there is plenty of hypocrisy from white liberals. At least they are trying instead of burying their heads in the sand and pretending that Obama becoming president meant racism is gone in the US.
(Score: 1) by Sulla on Monday January 14 2019, @05:58AM (3 children)
If the various colors of human are the same species because we interbreed then the various "species" of Orca that can interbreed should be the same species. Also giraffes. Also cheetahs.
I for one just want some consistency. Would also be nice to consider giraffes the same species again so we can keep them from going extinct.
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Arik on Wednesday January 16 2019, @01:12AM (1 child)
I'm not a specialists on Orca, but yes the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Species_problem may come into play to some degree. Because if we're going to say that 'race' is a myth we need to be able to define what race is, and arguably the best definition of race amounts to a biological separation sub species level. But species itself is and has been used inconsistently, which is a cause of confusion.
For the most part I follow Mayr on this, but further. A species is a reproductive population at its maximum potential. If their DNA combine to create fertile offspring they're the same species.
And a subspecies, or race, is a real biological division that is less than species. That is, if the DNA is actually compatible, but for some reason it doesn't actually stand a significant chance of getting mixed without outside intervention, that would be a subspecies or race.
Do these Orca *actually* interbreed? Do say Pacific and Atlantic populations (I'm guessing that's the split) actually ever meet?
If they *could* breed but never meet outside of human captivity, you could arguably call them subspecies rather than species.
On the other hand if they do meet, yet never or virtually never mate in the wild, but their DNA is compatible in the lab, that would be a much better case for calling them subspecies, in my mind. That would indicate some sort of sexual incompatibility, not simply separate ranges, and I'd urge you to consider that since ranges can have and do change for all kinds of reasons, a momentary separation caused by distance is NOT a biological separation.
But at any rate, a real sexual incompatibility is. I don't have any idea how different populations of Orca interact, but I do have some knowledge of the sexual interactions of canines, and on that basis I can give you an example of a REAL racial or subspecies distinction. Wolves vs domesticated dogs. The DNA does work. The ranges certainly overlap. The biologically programmed behavior, however, is not compatible. Cross breeding is virtually impossible without human intervention.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 1) by Sulla on Wednesday January 16 2019, @02:42AM
Thanks for the response, i think these are good distinctions.
Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
(Score: 2) by Arik on Wednesday January 16 2019, @01:15AM
As to canines there are more real racial splits because of size.
It is simply not possible for a great dane and a chihuahua to mate naturally, for example.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @01:18AM
Racial discrimination is racism, it is always bad since it overlooks the individual.
Caucasians are statistically less intelligent than Asians and Jews - still racist?
Sure [nih.gov] but you just keep on with your "racist echo chamber" bullshit when people discuss scientific evidence.
(Score: 0, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 13 2019, @10:47PM (5 children)
Your ad hominem attack attempts show what a sad little boy you really are. See, ad hominem attacks are the last resort of the fool who has no credible argument to make. It's typical SJW behavior. When logic fails, you pussies just start in with your name-calling.
Stating facts is not racism. Blacks are superior at many different forms of athletic competition. Is that a racist statement ? No. It's a statement of FACT.
You're just another SJW jerkoff.
Thanks for the laughs, you sad little bitch. And remember, watch your mouth in public, if you don't want to end up opening a can of shit you are not qualified to handle. Because some of us are ready willing and able to teach a little bitch like you a lesson.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 13 2019, @10:56PM (4 children)
All the pent up testosterone is making you a violent nutcase. There are legal hookers in Nevada, just save up your allowance and you'll finally get laid!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 13 2019, @11:08PM (3 children)
"All the pent up testosterone is making you a violent nutcase. There are legal hookers in Nevada, just save up your allowance and you'll finally get laid!"
.
You'd better grow some eyes in the back of your head if you're going to smart-mouth people in the real world like you do here.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @12:11AM
Right back at you, incel. Are you still butthurt about the results of the Nuremberg trials?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @12:13AM (1 child)
Did you even read the post I replied to? Are you the same AC? Is your comment going to win the Most Clueless Award for 2019?
I don't need to insult people in real life as they usually will have a reasonable discussion instead of acting like internet tough guys. The fact that an internet argument triggered you straight into violent fantasies should be a wake up call. TMB claims he doesn't post AC so you getting upset only tells me that you are tired of being called a racist. If you're getting called such all the time maybe there is something to it and you should do some self-reflection.
These topics bring up emotional feelings tied to family, tradition, and feelings of identity. Try to use your feelings as a guide for what is going on and use your brain's analytical capacity to analyze what is upsetting you and see if it is reasonable. Stay away from violence, it will only perpetuate the cycle and stain your soul.
Is that enough of a serious reply for you? Just the one ad-hom to highlight the irony of you being mad about my ad-hom reply to another ad-hom mess.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @12:22AM
Clarification: I only mentioned TMB in the above comment because that was the only name I dropped initially, thus the AC is either mad because it actually is TMB (I don't think so) or they are racists that feel attacked by my generalized comment.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 13 2019, @10:52PM (6 children)
Why don't you move to the Congo and see how much the locals enjoy your company, or better yet to Saudi Arabia where they have special live for you SJW gaywads.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 13 2019, @10:54PM (5 children)
Actually, East St Louis would be a great place for this snowflake to discuss his "all races are equal" theory with the local gentry.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 13 2019, @11:03PM (4 children)
Indeed, that ( trip to East St. Louis ) would be a Grade A reality check.
He would ( if he survived ) come away with a whole new understanding of the world. And he would probably have a long period of convalescence in which to ponder his newly gained real-world knowledge ( lying in a hospital bed after some homies kicked his rib cage in, yo ).
Clueless people who have led sheltered lives trying to tell the rest of us how the world "is" make me want to laugh and maybe vomit too. I have a higher IQ than 99.9% of the population, and I am not about to let some SJW dipshit tell me "how things are". The sad truth is, these SJWs have no idea how things really are, and they are spewing their bullshit from behind the walls of privilege where they have always lived. The SJWs are a joke to virtually everyone but themselves.
I have black friend who have very low opinions of SJWs. Their view is most often "Yeah those white kids want to get into an in group by pretending they give
a fuck about us black folks". You see, black people know the SJWs are a joke too. Like I said, the SJWs are a joke to virtually everyone but themselves.
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Monday January 14 2019, @12:16AM (2 children)
"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt"
> I have a higher IQ than 99.9% of the population
Got some SAT or GRE scores to back up that claim? Or a Triple Nine Society membership, since a Mensa membership isn't good enough?
> SJWs have no idea how things really are, and they are spewing their bullshit from behind the walls of privilege where they have always lived.
I'm having serious doubts about your intelligence claim.
> He would ( if he survived ) come away with a whole new understanding of the world.
Surely you are not serious. But the joke is not in good taste. If you are not guilty of instigating or perpetuating the hostile tone of this debate, you certainly have allowed yourself to be swayed into adopting the tone. Not smart.
Most people, even SJWs, have sense enough not to visit a rough neighborhood and annoy the locals. And even if they did talk some shit, as long as it isn't more than talk, likely nothing would happen anyway. Would that disappoint you?
Most really smart people who care to participate in society understand that things have gotten polarized and heated, and that there are manipulators who want it like that, despite the foolishness of misleading people and making it more difficult for everyone to make good choices.
That Dr. Watson's assertions have lead to a bit of a hot debate here is a case in point. I've heard all kinds of things over the years, like that Jews' IQ average about 104, and the Japanese also have slightly higher IQs than Caucasians. There was of course the 19th century and earlier notion that women are mentally inferior to men. Sophisticates realized that was not so, but the idea was strongly entrenched. Even today, there's a big mystery over why women are underrepresented in STEM. And many wars have been chock full of propaganda about the supposed superiority of one group over others, like the whole WWII Master Race, Aryan supremacy stuff.
Of course there are differences, between both individuals and groups. And, yes slight differences in apparent intelligence could exist. But we should be very careful not to make too much of that, for many reasons, like that the differences are small, and not least trying to avoid bias and unfairness.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @12:28AM
Winner
One MEEEEEEELLLLLIOONNNN internet points!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @01:07AM
Jews are (on average) between 3 or 4 standard deviations less intelligent than me (re: IQ tests) but see how that slightly above average median score translates into Nobel prize winners. The difference between men and women is as statistically insignificant as the difference between Jews and Caucasians but again the distribution tells all. There's another, entirely different [zmescience.com] phenomena that partly accounts for the marked difference in intellectual performance between the genders. Then there's the other biological factors such as neurology factors to consider. [frontiersin.org]
Over the last decade, I've come to the conclusion that the left are insane. Just as I hated religious conservatives for not supporting the distribution of condoms to combat AIDS in Africa, I now hate the left for engaging in ideological battles that are socially harmful. Perhaps if we force gender equality in the social sciences, that will be the end of it -- why aren't the left calling for that?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @05:20PM
LOL. your holier-than-thou aura almost slipped by unnoticed if not for this line
(Score: 5, Informative) by EventH0rizon on Sunday January 13 2019, @11:25PM (11 children)
My politics is to the left of Bernie Sanders, and there are plenty like me here.
Sorry our color scheme offends you but your assertions are well out of line.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @12:00AM (9 children)
I realize there are some liberals around here but the pattern of the posts show that I am right. Maybe you and other such lurkers should post more than 1-2x a month.
Don't worry, I realize I can leave, but I'll be kicking the door down on my way out.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @12:20AM (3 children)
Liberals are individualists who believe in personal freedoms while you appear to be a collectivist. Congratulations on being a group-thinker of one. Go and tally the number of dead as a result of collectivist ideologies like communism and fascism and get back to us on the veracity of your moral posturing!
(Score: 0, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @12:30AM (2 children)
Hi Dummy! You're thinking of Libertarians, and regardless of political affiliation as humans we are all collectivists since we are social mammals. Damn, I fucked up again, explaining facts to someone pushing the "socialism is genocide" nonsense.
Oh how I hope history finds out that 90% of the garbage on the net was written by scripted bots doing their manipulation thing.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @01:53AM
No, I'm thinking of classical liberalism as the forerunner of social liberalism.
There goes the collectivist redefining social responsibility as something it provably is not.
Yes, 100,000,000 dead is fucking up quite spectacularly. How fucking dare you apologize for it!
Not happening, you're being called out.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @06:08AM
Revising the books as to the number of deaths caused by attempts at communism is as stupid as revising the number of deaths caused by Nazism. Nothing can explain away or hide that the Nazis killed around 6 million Jews and an additional 4 million other. Nothing can explain away or hide that the Chinese killed 50-100 million and that the Soviets killed 50-100 million. Attempts at communism cause death on a massive scale because of the nature of communism. Fascism also has the same issue with attempting it leading to deaths. The argument should be where we choose to walk on the middle road and how to make sure we don't go too far to the left or right and fall off the road. The identity politics of the left are real reminiscent of the Wiemar republic, and the rise of the far right is a lot like the Nazis rising to confront the crazy identity politics. Both sides need to drop their crazy at the same time or we will fall off to either direction. You can't just have one side back down and have things be okay. If the Nazis back down the left will go full throttle with "traditional masculinity like stoicism is toxic" and "giving boys hormones to turn into girls before they are nine is natural", and that a real dangerous path.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @12:59AM (3 children)
Like the poster above, I'm somewhere left of Bernie. At the same time, the combination of petulant know-it-alls coupled with largest lynching trees ever built (Facebook and Twitter) is not just annoying, it's a real danger to real people. The whole Bret Weinstein thing was an eye-opener and as things have moved since then, my views grow ever more jaundiced. Looking at political media is like chewing on glass shards where every Democrat is trying their level best to keep wars going and not just bring back the cold war, but make it hot. There's the #MeToo thing going around where mere accusation is enough to destroy a person -- Neil deGrasse Tyson springs to mind -- forget evidence just hang 'em high. It's the new McCarthy era.
Censorship never works -- it's the original Streisand Effect. There will be pushback and when it comes, it likely won't be from rational people, but from the freakier types of opposition. We see that pushback oozing out from the less regulated corners of the internet, maybe even here.
The thing I'm grappling with is that there has been so much bad behavior on the SJW side, I just can't get all that worked up when they get trolled. I basically think: "fuck 'em". I don't think I _should_ feel that way. I just do.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @04:02AM (2 children)
Ah yes, good points and believe it or not I feel that way sometimes myself when I see someone hopping up on the outrage soapbox for interactions that just don't seem to warrant it.
Then again I sometimes have to re-calibrate my expectations, it is easy to get comfortable in my straight white male existence and forget that other people really are dealing with some extremely shitty prejudice. Extremists go too far on both sides, but I'm gonna have to laugh at your "so much bad behavior on the SJW side" because it pales in comparison to the racism and prejudice. I understand your concerns, but I am going to prioritize the side with a much larger pile of bodies. What is the worst thing the extreme left does? Ruin some careers by making a big deal about someone's past shitty behavior? Not cool, but that is so far below being actually lynched and not metaphorically on some social media site that didn't even exist 20 years ago.
I wasn't advocating censorship, my call to the site operators was to basically get more active with the site and at least respond to some of the garbage. Otherwise it will become more and more an echo chamber. I am sure that is the goal of some of the trolls, just another hypocritical bit of irony.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @06:11AM
Have you actually watched the videos related to the Bret Weinstein affair? In particular those involving the school's president being ordered to keep his hands at his sides and so forth? And what -- being run out of a job and made unemployable is not some kind of violence? That's just crap. These people are dangerous.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @06:14AM
The right doesn't scare me because they are already the most armed group of extremists that has ever existed and with the exception of a handful of events by legit crazies there haven't been any big problems. They also seem to evaporate into the woodwork rather than escalate things when bad stuff happens. The left though I am afraid of, but that might just be because I have seen what the left is willing to do. Spiking trees, setting SUVs on fire, blocking highways, building bombs (weather underground). I like predictability, and the right is fairly predictable right now. They have their jobs and they have to be at work on Monday, so they can't start too much shit. But the left? I don't know.
(Score: 2) by fyngyrz on Monday January 14 2019, @09:10PM
I tend not to respond to rabid, crazy posts. It is fair to say that such an approach ends up with fewer posts contesting both the right and left extremists; but when one of them (or anyone, really) actually tries to make sense and back up what they say with at least some kind of non-toxic reasoning (and that certainly happens here), I'm inclined to reply if I have time and feel like I can contribute to the matter(s) at hand.
The things to keep in mind about trolls of any stripe are:
--
On censorship and repression:
Sweeping the trash under the bed just means
you don't know what's festering under there.
(Score: 2) by opinionated_science on Monday January 14 2019, @04:22PM
I think this is a hidden truth - labels are used to avoid dealing in facts...
there is no left or right - a belief is ephemeral until it generates a fact.
And even then "I believe the sun will rise if I make tea at 7am", is not causal.
So listen up folks, ignore everything in the news that does not have facts , reasoning and a means of independent verification.
Oh and the colour scheme appears slightly pink on my monitor ;-)
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday January 14 2019, @12:45AM (3 children)
I'll always be here to fight these fucks. There are others who will too. You're not alone, as much as it seems like it and as much as this place actually *is* turning into a RWNJ cesspool.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 3, Interesting) by bradley13 on Monday January 14 2019, @10:26AM (2 children)
I have no doubt that I'm one of the posters AC is upset about. I'd just like to point out that I welcome other viewpoints, as long as they are presented with reason. And I try to make my points with reason and without ad hominem attacks as well.
Someone putting fingers in their ears while calling people names like "racist", "alt-right", etc.? That's just a troll.
I put this post here, because Asuma Hazuki is one of the people on my "friends" list, whose comments I always enjoy, even though our views are very different.
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday January 15 2019, @06:37AM
I'm sorry, Bradley, but the feeling is not mutual. A veneer of civility does not excuse the rot lurking underneath any more than a coat of fresh paint can change the fact that a house is crumbling at the foundations.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 15 2019, @08:37PM
Indeed, I have seen you support some nasty conservative values. I have not seen you go all Buzzard on someone so perhaps you do actually take in other viewpoints.
Calling someone names can be trollish but not always, if someone is saying racist shit they can be called out as racist alt-right shitheads without a trace of trolling. I'm super liberal yet I've seen instances of true "SJWs" so I now accept that term as a counter point to "alt-right". Sometimes the insults are spot on.
I started out on this site trying to maintain a high level of discourse, however it gets tiresome trying to reason with trolls and extremists. Now I respond with the lowest effort insults that shit.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by crafoo on Monday January 14 2019, @01:53AM (3 children)
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.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @09:01AM (2 children)
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
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
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.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by linkdude64 on Sunday January 13 2019, @11:13PM (5 children)
I want a PhD now please, for my no-evidence-needed "ethical science" claim that central nervous systems are developed and created independently of your DNA.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 13 2019, @11:57PM (4 children)
Hmm.... so hard to tell where you're going with that. Is this one of those "evolution doesn't end at the neck" things? How do you account for HiThere's point about IQ and poverty?
Please just don't give me bullshit that amounts to "they deserve their poverty."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @12:12AM (3 children)
See my reply above. IQ is partly heritable and high IQ correlates positively with deferred gratification. Wealthy people invest their money, that is how they become wealthy. Equality of opportunity can never be as tyrannical as equality of outcome. [wikipedia.org] Attempting to do any more than level the playing field is the road to oppression.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @12:43AM (2 children)
I see you're a reasonable one, and you've even recruited a Strawman General to your service!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 14 2019, @01:56AM
If you insist - do my bidding slave!
(Score: 2) by linkdude64 on Tuesday January 15 2019, @12:22AM
Duno why that guy claimed to be me, but that wasn't.