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This is a question Political Correctness Gone Mad

Freddy Woo writes: "I once worked on an animation to help highlight the issues homeless people face in winter. The client was happy with the work, then a note came back that the ethnic mix of the characters were wrong. These were cartoon characters. They weren't meant to be ethnically anything, but we were forced to make one of them brown, at the cost of about 10k to the charity. This is how your donations are spent. Wisely as you can see."

How has PC affected you? (Please add your own tales - not five-year-old news stories cut-and-pasted from other websites)

(, Thu 22 Nov 2007, 10:20)
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A few thoughts...
Musuko stated it quite nicely, I thought. Cheers.

Anyway... Watson's sin was that he publicly stated that data showed a correlation between intelligence and race, and broached a taboo subject- that race might have implications for intellect and behavior. We all know that ethnicity does influence behavior- anyone care to argue that the Irish don't drink a lot?- but to say so is politically incorrect, as it might hurt someone's feelings. While he should have known better than to say what he did in public, he did not deserve to be declared a pariah as he has been. He merely stated what the data showed. Ignoring data is stupid, even if it might offend someone- as an example, the Irish, English and Native Americans are all known for a high rate of alcoholism; as I have all of these in my ancestry I need to be aware of that propensity in myself. It doesn't mean that I'm automatically going to have a drinking problem.

Pournelle is a sci-fi writer, ex military and a political adviser/think tank member. He's brilliant, but politically conservative and willing to consider things that others might balk at. I don't always agree with him, but he does raise some interesting points.

My own opinion? I agree that race is not a predictor of IQ, but can't argue with scientific data. IQ can be influenced by diet and other environmental factors, so I have no idea what to attribute it to.

Personally I would love to see all forms of racism banned, from the obvious things such as the KKK and hate crimes to the benevolent kind such as affirmative action. But this is not likely to ever happen- as Pournelle has said many times, we prefer to hold back the bright ones and push forward the not as bright ones so that nobody benefits, rather than face the unpleasant fact that not all of our children are above average and destined for greatness.
(, Thu 22 Nov 2007, 17:17, Reply)

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