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.

Actually, African-Americans DO, on average, score lower on IQ tests.

However, this has about a thousand explanations besides "Whites are smarter" including childhood malnutrition, culture emphasis, fallacies and bias within the tests, etc.

The thing is, a lot of Africans living in third-world nations, in addition to virtually no education and outside experience, have a really poor diet. If your diet is primarily influenced by solely stale bread, you're not exactly going to be Einstein Jr.

Why do I think you wouldn't hate it if they charged you less for the same fact?

Same idea as black people not recoiling at the idea of athletic superiority.

But the question remains: Are Watson's claims verified by scientific consensus?

Which is why I hate that auto insurance companies would charge me more because I'm a young male...

Really? I thought they weren't allowed to discriminate on sex anymore. Maybe it's just a state thing.

The guy who writes Toothpaste for Dinner did a blog about this. (language) I pretty much agree with him. If anyone is granted with the same education and upbringing, they'll usually be just as smart.

It has been said that the typical human being uses about 5 - 10% of their brain. Except in cases of severe learning disability, this pretty much suggests to me that any person who applies themselves and has access to learning materials can become a highly educated person, regardless of racial, ethnic, or national background.

It has been said that the typical human being uses about 5 - 10% of their brain.

In all seriousness, this is something I believe everyone feels deep down inside and tries to suppress. I mean, seriously, aside from the ones that contribute to society, and don't flunk out of the fifth grade, we all expected this to come sometime, we just never thought it would be scientifically proven in our lifetime.

Well, I have to agree with COLA somewhat... a lot of people (though certainly not "everyone") who aren't really racists do have subconscious racist thoughts that are difficult to suppress. Including me. I don't want them, but they come to me nonetheless. Fortunately, actions count much more than thoughts, and I don't do anything racist. I think my biggest problem right now is that I find it difficult to keep it in my mind that black people are still "one of us", because I so rarely interact with them anymore, and -- there's no use denying facts -- most black people do act differently than white people. There's no "hip hop" gene, of course, but due to societal factors, they have formed their own subculture, and their culture has different norms than "white" culture. And, to be frank, I don't like that culture. I don't think I'm racist for that. Nobody would say I'm a racist for not liking French culture, right? If I didn't like African-American culture because I don't like black people, that would be racist, but I'm pretty sure that's not what's going on in my mind. In any case, I do try my best to forget these negative associations and judge every black person the way I would judge any other person: "by the content of their character, not the color of their skin".

As for the "criminals and lowlifes" thing... again, I don't think black people are genetically predisposed towards that sort of thing. But given their position in society, where a great many of them are still poor, it would not be surprising to find a higher proportion of criminals and lowlifes. And people do have a very bad habit of generalizing from patterns like that, and then judging individual people based on those generalizations. We shouldn't do it, but nevertheless, it's hard not to do. The instinct is built into us and the pressure to do it is everywhere. Even if aren't consciously aware of the pressure, it's there. It's really insidious. I guess human nature often is, really...

- Kef

No, what he said was the he disliked the culture and that everyone had a racist subconscious.

You said that Watson scientifically proved in our lifetime that blacks were inferior.

Two completely different concepts.

I don't think one report constitutes scientific proof.