Re: [-empyre-] Code fury

[Nicholas Ruiz III <editor@intertheory.org>]

It was just a poiesis...about how vengeful 'code
studies' can be; it remains to be seen if the
discovery and reordering (authoring?) of the Code will
exact a new mythological vengeance on its new
myth-makers.  Will the conscience of some new
postmodern Fury justify a 'natural' Code, as the Roman
Furies pursued transgressive ancients in the name of
justice?  

Our progeny will tell the tale of our transgressions,
no?

By the way, Watson claims that research substantiates
his claim--anyone seen the data?

Nick



--- "sdv@krokodile.co.uk" <sdv@krokodile.co.uk> wrote:

> It might not be clear from the below but Watson's
> speech at the Science 
> Museum was cancelled by the Science Museum last
> night or early this morning.
> 
> The title of Nick's email is rather odd 'code fury'
> perhaps you could 
> explain why this title ?
> 
> steve
> Nicholas Ruiz III wrote:
> > Fury at DNA pioneer's theory: Africans are less
> > intelligent than Westerners
> > 
> >
>
http://news.independent.co.uk/sci_tech/article3067222.ece?123
> > 
> > Celebrated scientist attacked for race comments:
> "All
> > our social policies are based on the fact that
> their
> > intelligence is the same as ours - whereas all the
> > testing says not really"
> > 
> > By Cahal Milmo
> > Published: 17 October 2007
> > 
> > One of the world's most eminent scientists was
> > embroiled in an extraordinary row last night after
> he
> > claimed that black people were less intelligent
> than
> > white people and the idea that "equal powers of
> > reason" were shared across racial groups was a
> > delusion.
> > 
> > James Watson, a Nobel Prize winner for his part in
> the
> > unravelling of DNA who now runs one of America's
> > leading scientific research institutions, drew
> > widespread condemnation for comments he made ahead
> of
> > his arrival in Britain today for a speaking tour
> at
> > venues including the Science Museum in London.
> > 
> > The 79-year-old geneticist reopened the explosive
> > debate about race and science in a newspaper
> interview
> > in which he said Western policies towards African
> > countries were wrongly based on an assumption that
> > black people were as clever as their white
> > counterparts when "testing" suggested the
> contrary. He
> > claimed genes responsible for creating differences
> in
> > human intelligence could be found within a decade.
> > 
> > The newly formed Equality and Human Rights
> Commission,
> > successor to the Commission for Racial Equality,
> said
> > it was studying Dr Watson's remarks " in full". Dr
> > Watson told The Sunday Times that he was
> "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". He said there was a
> natural
> > desire that all human beings should be equal but
> > "people who have to deal with black employees find
> > this not true".
> > 
> > His views are also reflected in a book published
> next
> > week, in which he writes: "There is no firm reason
> to
> > anticipate that the intellectual capacities of
> peoples
> > geographically separated in their evolution should
> > prove to have evolved identically. Our wanting to
> > reserve equal powers of reason as some universal
> > heritage of humanity will not be enough to make it
> > so."
> > 
> > The furore echoes the controversy created in the
> 1990s
> > by The Bell Curve, a book co-authored by the
> American
> > political scientist Charles Murray, which
> suggested
> > differences in IQ were genetic and discussed the
> > implications of a racial divide in intelligence.
> The
> > work was heavily criticised across the world, in
> > particular by leading scientists who described it
> as a
> > work of " scientific racism".
> > 
> > Dr Watson arrives in Britain today for a speaking
> tour
> > to publicise his latest book, Avoid Boring People:
> > Lessons from a Life in Science. Among his first
> > engagements is a speech to an audience at the
> Science
> > Museum organised by the Dana Centre, which held a
> > discussion last night on the history of scientific
> > racism.
> > 
> > Critics of Dr Watson said there should be a robust
> > response to his views across the spheres of
> politics
> > and science. Keith Vaz, the Labour chairman of the
> > Home Affairs Select Committee, said: "It is sad to
> see
> > a scientist of such achievement making such
> baseless,
> > unscientific and extremely offensive comments. I
> am
> > sure the scientific community will roundly reject
> what
> > appear to be Dr Watson's personal prejudices.
> > 
> > "These comments serve as a reminder of the
> attitudes
> > which can still exists at the highest professional
> > levels."
> > 
> > The American scientist earned a place in the
> history
> > of great scientific breakthroughs of the 20th
> century
> > when he worked at the University of Cambridge in
> the
> > 1950s and 1960s and formed part of the team which
> > discovered the structure of DNA. He shared the
> 1962
> > Nobel Prize for medicine with his British
> colleague
> > Francis Crick and New Zealand-born Maurice
> Wilkins.
> > 
> > But despite serving for 50 years as a director of
> the
> > Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory on Long Island,
> > considered a world leader in research into cancer
> and
> > genetics, Dr Watson has frequently courted
> controversy
> > with some of his views on politics, sexuality and
> > race. The respected journal Science wrote in 1990:
> "To
> > many in the scientific community, Watson has long
> been
> > something of a wild man, and his colleagues tend
> to
> > hold their collective breath whenever he veers
> from
> > the script."
> > 
> > In 1997, he told a British newspaper that a woman
> > should have the right to abort her unborn child if
> > tests could determine it would be homosexual. He
> later
> > insisted he was talking about a "hypothetical"
> choice
> > which could never be applied. He has also
> suggested a
> > link between skin colour and sex drive, positing
> the
> > theory that black people have higher libidos, and
> > argued in favour of genetic screening and
> engineering
> > on the basis that " stupidity" could one day be
> cured.
> > He has claimed that beauty could be genetically
> > manufactured, saying: "People say it would be
> terrible
> > if we made all girls pretty. I think it would
> great."
> > 
> > The Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory said yesterday
> that
> > Dr Watson could not be contacted to comment on his
> > remarks.
> > 
> > Steven Rose, a professor of biological sciences at
> the
> > Open University and a founder member of the
> Society
> > for Social Responsibility in Science, said: " This
> is
> > Watson at his most scandalous. He has said similar
> > things about women before but I have never heard
> him
> > get into this racist terrain. If he knew the
> > literature in the subject he would know he was out
> of
> > his depth scientifically, quite apart from
> socially
> 
=== message truncated ===


Dr. Nicholas Ruiz III
Editor, Kritikos
http://intertheory.org