Grok: On October 2007 (leading to the 2008 consequences), during an interview with The Sunday Times to promote his memoir Avoid Boring People, James Watson expressed pessimism about Africa's future, stating: "I am inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa" because "all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours—whereas all the testing says not really." He elaborated that he was "gloomy about Africa" due to perceived lower intelligence among Black Africans compared to Europeans, implying genetic causes for IQ differences.In January 2019, during the PBS documentary American Masters: Decoding Watson, Watson was asked if his views on race and IQ had changed since 2007. He replied, "No. Not at all," adding, "I would like for them to have changed... But I haven’t seen any knowledge." He reiterated: "There’s a difference on the average between blacks and whites on IQ tests. I would say the difference is genetic." CSHL condemned these as "reprehensible, unsupported by science" and "reckless," revoking his emeritus titles and severing all ties in January 2019 (often referenced as the 2020 action in summaries, though the documentary aired in late 2018 and response was prompt). The lab emphasized that such views contradicted evidence showing IQ disparities stem from environmental, cultural, and socioeconomic factors, not genetics, and that race lacks a clear biological basis for such claims.
But don't forget Psychologist Jordan Peterson: Peterson explicitly distinguishes IQ from wisdom, arguing that high intelligence does not guarantee wise decision-making, ethical judgment, or life success. He describes wisdom as a separate trait, often acquired through experience, moral reflection, and humility, with zero correlation to IQ—not even a weak one.
High intelligence enables the acquisition of power, but without wisdom, conscientiousness, or moral grounding, it becomes tyrannical or destabilizing. He explicitly rejects the idea that "the smartest should rule" (a technocratic or Platonic philosopher-king model), calling it dangerous and historically refuted.
IOW, you can have super high IQ and be a total failure. We've entered the realm of politics, the struggle for understanding what is important. Totalitarion politics is a forceful imposition of a preferred pattern deemed important. Appeals to science, when convenient, often consider DNA or IQ more important than what is more important.
So happy our founding documents were based on “all men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. “ No action of government nor debate of science should shake anyone from that core principle.
Ted Kaczynski - killer IQ (pun intended); little if any wisdom.
“you can have super high IQ and be a total failure.”
True statement on an individual level.
The problem is that if you have most of your population in a country/area with “low” IQ—however we may wish to define that—it has major impacts on public policy.
We can debate what those might be—but it would be unwise to ignore them completely.