In The Guardian, Angela Saini is freaking out that more scholars are acknowledging that ‘reality group differences based on IQ’ is a thesis worthy of exploration. “‘Scientific’ eugenics is on the rise, and grabbing a foothold in respected journals,” reads the alarmist byline, “The claim that these theories are a credible part of a general discussion should worry us all.” Surprisingly, there are no exclamation points after that last sentence.
Researchers with extreme views on race number relatively few but, having languished on the margins of their fields for many years, they are now managing to push their ideas into the mainstream, including into respectable scientific journals.
Over the past year I have been investigating this tight, well-connected cabal of people, who nowadays call themselves “race realists”, reflecting their view that the scientific evidence is on their side…
…[T]he steady creep of extreme views from the fringes of academia to the everyday should worry us all. Academic freedom is an honourable ideal, and one worth defending, because we trust that the system works. Through careful checks and peer review, only the most reliable, well-evidenced ideas, and most trustworthy researchers, should pass through.
And… here… it… comes:
But in practice the system does fail. Poor papers do get published, weak research can pass through the net, and people’s prejudices can sometimes taint the process. This is what those at the disreputable edges of academia are counting on.
The scientific community needs to be more vigilant. The system broke down over eugenics research in the early 20th century, with catastrophic consequences. We have to ensure this never happens again.
Ah, yes, it always comes back to The Holocaust.
These people are not very good at logic.