Slashdot Mirror
James Watson's Nobel Prize Goes On Auction This Week
HughPickens.com writes: Nicholas St. Fleur reports at The Atlantic that James Watson, the famed molecular biologist and co-discoverer of DNA, is putting his Nobel Prize up for auction on Thursday. He's the first Nobel laureate in history to do so. In 2007, Watson, best known for his work deciphering the DNA double helix alongside Francis Crick in 1953, made an incendiary remark regarding the intelligence of black people that lost him the admiration of the scientific community. It made him, in his own words, an "unperson." That year, The Sunday Times quoted Watson as saying that he felt "inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa" because "all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours—whereas all the testing says not really." Watson has a history of making racist and sexist declarations, according to Time. At a science conference in 2012, Watson said of women in science, "I think having all these women around makes it more fun for the men but they're probably less effective." To many scientists his gravest offense was not crediting Rosalind Franklin with helping him deduce the structure of DNA.
Watson is selling his prized medallion because he has no income outside of academia, even though for years he had served on many corporate boards. The gold medal is expected to bring in between $2.5 million and $3.5 million when it goes to auction. Watson says that he will use the money to purchase art and make donations to institutions that have supported him, such as the University of Chicago. He adds that the auction will also offer him the chance to "re-enter public life." "I've had a unique life that's allowed me to do things. I was set back. It was stupid on my part," says Watson. "All you can do is nothing, except hope that people actually know what you are."
Watson is selling his prized medallion because he has no income outside of academia, even though for years he had served on many corporate boards. The gold medal is expected to bring in between $2.5 million and $3.5 million when it goes to auction. Watson says that he will use the money to purchase art and make donations to institutions that have supported him, such as the University of Chicago. He adds that the auction will also offer him the chance to "re-enter public life." "I've had a unique life that's allowed me to do things. I was set back. It was stupid on my part," says Watson. "All you can do is nothing, except hope that people actually know what you are."
This man is a victem of the politically moderated speech problem. He stated his beliefs and was then considered anti-female and anti black. In reference to black, native people I do not find it outlandish to suppose that there is little demand for esoteric reasoning as they are busy enough trying to eek out a living. I further do not think it is offensive to state that peoples' minds and social customs adapt to what is needful to survive. Therefore I would expect it to be very rare for native people, not exposed heavily to western life, may not have activated abilities in the mind that are more common in urban cultures. That is not looking down on anyone. People simply adapt their minds to their needs. As far as the remarks about female scientists in the workplace he is on target. The men probably enjoyed the company and therefore the men may not be as concentrated on their work. It does not attack the ability of women at all. It points to the difficulty in mixing sexes in some jobs. The notion of non-offensive speech is killing free speech.
Hey, everyone, look! A college dropout is calling a Nobel Prize winner an "idiot" because the college dropout is good at ignoring evidence that doesn't agree with his worldviews!
Shut the fuck up, i kan reed. You're probably the dumbest motherfucker on Slashdot. You're worse for Slashdot than Dice or Beta ever were.
And this, is how Illiberals react, when a thoughtcriminal challenges their — unsubstantiated — beliefs... This perfect example of Illiberal approach to arguing makes a good conversational piece and is now available printed on archive-quality paper.
Wild-caught. Order it with an attractive (organic) wood frame for only $9.99 more and receive free shipping within continental US. Call now, operators are standing by.
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.