blogue atlântico

Don’t silence the scientists. Por Sue Blackmore.

Science is above all a search for truth over expediency. Lots of us would naturally like the world to be a cosy place in which human beings are in charge, everyone is equal, all comes right in the end, a kind god watches over us, and we end up in heaven for ever. But it’s not like that. In lots of ways the universe is absolutely not how we would like it to be. It takes science, and its rigorous (if imperfect) methods of accepting actual evidence, to overcome our desires for it to be otherwise.

Race and IQ is just one such issue. Life would be easier, society would be fairer, racism would be easier to fight against, if there were no differences. But thousands of studies (including twin studies, adoption studies and much more) have shown differences between races in all sorts of abilities. We don’t know exactly why, we don’t know precisely how dependent these differences are on testing methods, environment, and countless other variables, but in general James Watson was only telling the truth based on lots of evidence.

(via Blasfémias)