Enlightened caution, thy name is Eric Turkheimer. The University of Virginia psychology professor recently weighed in on the raging debate over intelligence and genetics that started with Nobel Prize winning biologist James D. Watson’s claim that African-Americans are less intelligent than members of other races and has since moved onto the Web, where William Saletan, a senior writer at culture and politics website Slate, recently issued an apology for a series of posts on the subject. Saletan wrote on Slate that he "thought it was important to lay out the scenario’s plausibility," but discovered in the wake of a strong response that some evidence for his opinions stemmed from J. Philippe Rushton, the president of a research firm named Pioneer Fund that has donated $70,000 in support to a segregationist group called New Century Foundation. In comments to The New York Times, Turkheimer mentions the close and complex links between and individual’s genetic structure and environment as evidence enough to make the debate "fundamentally impossible to settle." Maybe if Watson examined Turkheimer’s genetic make-up, he’d uncover a genetic predisposition to careful consideration.
Previous "This Just In" articles from this week:
Gun purchasing ban list more than doubles [November 30]
Names of mentally ill submitted by states increases following VA Tech shootings
DMB bassist’s house is smokin’ [November 29]
Lessard and son safely escape Albemarle house fire
Grisham pleads the First [November 29]
His lawyers try to rid the author of his lawsuit once and for all
Groh won’t go; fans fuss [November 28]
Hoos congratulate Al, then keep griping
Kucinich is coming [November 27]
Presidential candidate will speak on December 7
UVA students charged with kidnapping [November 27]
Victim was held for $500,000 ransom
