Fury at DNA pioneer's theory: Africans are less intelligent than Westerners

[Iron Condor]

Id never thought about this question before i read this thread.

But it got me thinking.

I can name losts of great and famous black athletes, politicans and TV/Film stars but why cant i name any black person famous for being really clever (eg a famous scientist etc)

[xoggoth]

My history is a little hazy, but wasn't that Ottoman?

[sasguru]

c) Considering that we second raters have ruled the world for much of the last five hundred years while the brighter Asians have languished, intelligence is clearly not the major factor in success anyway.

500 years is a small period of time considering the first civilisations emerged thousands of years BC. And we are now seeing the beginning of the end of Western dominance. These things are cyclical.
My theory is that the West's rediscovery of science and rationality in the 16th and 17th centuries laid the foundations of an extraordinarily technical society which could then dominate the world. Scientists were the celebrities of their age. Newton was feted as the most famous man of his time and even in the 19th century people flocked to see Faraday's lectures.
Now we have Jade Goody and David Beckham. C'est la vie.

[sasguru]

My history is a little hazy, but wasn't that Ottoman?

The Ottomans certainly but I seem to remember the Mongols overran parts of Europe too.

[wendigo100]

"To simply dismiss something because it not PC is no better than embracing it because it suits a racist agenda. "

There would have been no problem whatever if the results had been the other way around of course...

Indeed.

[mrdonuts]

mongol hordes were knocking at the door, then someone popped their clogs or whatever it is they wear in mongolia and they all trooped off home for the funeral instead

[sasguru]

[url]Just as well the Khan died or we'd all be riding horses & living in yurts.

On the other hand getting shagged would be a lot easier.

[xoggoth]

You did not say invasions generally z, you said "Gates of Vienna" which usually refers to (looks it up) the siege of Vienna in 1683 which was Ottoman. So ya boo sucks.

[Spacecadet]

He's been dropped by the science museum:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7050020.stm

[daviejones]

Don't see why they dropped him. He did some research and published his findings...people should get over it.