評論
打印
Dr Watson's views about race and intelligence seem to stem from his keen interest in "The Bell Curve",
沃森博士關于種族和智商的觀點似乎源于他對《鐘形曲線》的強烈興趣，
a book published in 1994 by Charles Murray and Richard Herrnstein, that, among other things,
該書由查理斯·墨瑞和理查德·赫恩斯坦創作并于1994年出版，此外，
argued African-Americans were less intelligent than white Americans and genetic differences between ethnicities played a role in the difference.
該書爭論稱非裔美國人智商不如美國白人，并且種族劃分之間的基因差異在這種差別中起到重要作用。
Modern genetic research has largely discredited these ideas.
現代基因研究已經讓這些想法站不住腳了。
Biologists know that there is a substantial genetic component to intelligence.
生物學家知道智力有著大量遺傳組成部分。
Depending on the precise measure of intelligence being studied and the statistical model being used, it can range anywhere from 20-60%.
由于被研究智力的精準測量以及所使用統計模型的不同，其可以在20%到60%之間變動。
And observational research from the 1980s, cited by the authors of "The Bell Curve", showed that,
《鐘形曲線》的作者所引用的20世紀80年代的觀察研究表明
if you ask people to self-identify on the basis of ethnicity and then measure their mental performance in some way,
如果你讓人們以種族為基礎進行自我定義，然后用一些方法測量他們的心理作業，
for example IQ or the number of years in education, you will find differences in the mean attainment levels between different groups.
例如IQ或受教育年數，你將發現不同人群學業水平之間的差別。
Genetics, however, cannot be the main reason for any observed differences, says Ewan Birney,
但基因并不能成為任何觀察差異的主要原因，伊萬·伯尼
director of the European Bioinformatics Institute, in Cambridge, because self-identification of ethnicity does not easily map onto genetic ancestry.
劍橋歐洲生物信息研究所主任表示，因為對種族的自我認同不能輕易映射到遺傳起源上。
"African-Americans have a substantial amount of European genetic ancestry—you should in fact call them 'African-European-Americans'," observes Dr Birney.
“非裔美國人擁有大量的歐洲基因血統—其實你應該稱他們為‘非裔歐洲美國人’，”伯尼博士觀察稱。
Dr Watson has easy access to these scientific insights, which are emerging thick and fast in a field of research that he helped invent.
沃森博士能夠輕易獲得這些科學觀點，這些觀點在他幫助發明的這一片研究領域中頻頻出現。
But if he knows about these latest ideas, he has not acted on them.
但是如果他了解這些最新的想法，那么他不會這么做的。
"Jim Watson," says Dr Birney, "is one of these scientists who has used his gut to think a lot, often with remarkable success,
“詹姆斯·沃森，”伯尼博士說到，“是利用直覺思考的科學家之一，直覺經常讓他們取得舉世矚目的成就，
but this is a case where his gut is plain, flat wrong. He has had many people tell him that he is wrong and he has decided not to listen to that.
但這一次，他的直覺是錯的。有很多人告訴他，他是錯的并且他已經決定不聽從他們的建議。
And he has decided not to engage with people who know more than him in this area."
他決定不和那些對這個領域知知甚多的人接洽。”
Dr Watson himself was unable to respond to his critics this week.
沃森博士本身無法回應本周批評他的人。
According to family members who spoke with the New York Times, he has been in hospital following a car accident in October last year.
據家族成員告知《紐約時報》，自去年10月車禍以來，他一直在住院。
Like any other group of people, scientists can be complicated, controversial and do not have to be loved by all.
很任何其他人群一樣，科學家們可以是很復雜的、飽受爭議且不必被人人所愛的。
Even so, Dr Watson's lifelong desire to provoke might write a bitter epitaph to an otherwise-great scientific career.
即便如此，沃森博士想要挑釁的畢生愿望或許可以寫成一篇原本偉大科學事業的苦澀碑文。
譯文由可可原創，僅供學習交流使用，未經許可請勿轉載。
