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"Still, his actions make it necessary to repeal all of his arguments and assumptions." Really? James Watson and William Shockley both said very unpopular thin

by diolpah 15y ago

"Still, his actions make it necessary to repeal all of his arguments and assumptions." Really? James Watson and William Shockley both said very unpopular things about race. Shockley advocated a policy of sterilizing lower class black people. Should we repeal all use and knowledge of DNA and semiconductors? Even if Shockley started killing black people as stage one eugenics, his actions would have absolutely no impact on his ideas. None.

j_r_ 15y ago
Yes, but there is no train of thought from semiconductors to stupid ideas about eugenics. There _is_ one from anti-socialist rhetoric to killing members of a left party.
- jerf 15y ago
  "Yes, but there is no train of thought from semiconductors to stupid ideas about eugenics." You badly underestimate the perverse creativity of a paranoid schizophrenic. I've never seen that one but I've certainly seen things every bit as crazy. (I have a bit of a soft spot for paranoid schizophrenic rantings; it's like outsider art for philosophy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outsider_art http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outsider_art)
  - rbanffy 15y ago
    Maybe we miss the point here. You can't argue the science behind transistors is correct (or, at least, the engineering) but you can show how bad things end up when we start recommending eugenics. The central idea of eugenics - that we can control our evolution the way we did with dogs or cattle - is not inherently flawed, but I wouldn't trust the evolution of our species to its current members. Before we think about building a better mankind, we need a better mankind.
    - yummyfajitas 15y ago
      ...but you can show how bad things end up when we start recommending eugenics. This is a perfect example of why it's bad to reject an idea simply because it has unpleasant proponents. If we rejected eugenics based on unpleasant associations, thousands of Ashkenazi Jewish children would have died a horrible death. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tay%E2%80%93Sachs_disease#Screening_success_with_Ashkenazi_Jews http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tay%E2%80%93Sachs_disease#Scree...
rbanffy 15y ago
Good point. I have failed to find many points that do not involve racism and violence, but if you can find anything good in those 1500+ pages, please, share.

by diolpah 15y ago

j_r_ 15y ago

Yes, but there is no train of thought from semiconductors to stupid ideas about eugenics. There _is_ one from anti-socialist rhetoric to killing members of a left party.

jerf 15y ago
"Yes, but there is no train of thought from semiconductors to stupid ideas about eugenics." You badly underestimate the perverse creativity of a paranoid schizophrenic. I've never seen that one but I've certainly seen things every bit as crazy. (I have a bit of a soft spot for paranoid schizophrenic rantings; it's like outsider art for philosophy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outsider_art http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outsider_art)
- rbanffy 15y ago
  Maybe we miss the point here. You can't argue the science behind transistors is correct (or, at least, the engineering) but you can show how bad things end up when we start recommending eugenics. The central idea of eugenics - that we can control our evolution the way we did with dogs or cattle - is not inherently flawed, but I wouldn't trust the evolution of our species to its current members. Before we think about building a better mankind, we need a better mankind.
  - yummyfajitas 15y ago
    ...but you can show how bad things end up when we start recommending eugenics. This is a perfect example of why it's bad to reject an idea simply because it has unpleasant proponents. If we rejected eugenics based on unpleasant associations, thousands of Ashkenazi Jewish children would have died a horrible death. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tay%E2%80%93Sachs_disease#Screening_success_with_Ashkenazi_Jews http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tay%E2%80%93Sachs_disease#Scree...

rbanffy 15y ago

Good point. I have failed to find many points that do not involve racism and violence, but if you can find anything good in those 1500+ pages, please, share.