Disrespect for the Respectable

Remember James Watson? One half of the duo who discovered the famous double helix structure of the DNA molecule? Well, the scientist recently announced that he plans to sell his Nobel prize medal. Why? Is he disenchanted with the Nobel or prizes in general? Nope. He says that following accusations of racism in 2007, “no one really wants to admit I exist”. And so his income has fallen (because, you know, fewer talks and guest appearances). Oh, the medal just sold for $4.75 million, but that’s not what this blog is about.

Adam Rutherford writes a scathing description of what he thinks is the real problem here, and not just about Watson. He starts off with the reaction one might have on hearing of Watson’s decision:

“This sounds awful: an 86-year-old hero ostracised for his views, shooed from public life by the people who walk in his scientific shadow.”

But what exactly did Watson say to invoke the racism charges? He said that while people may want to believe that all races are born with equal intelligence, those “who have to deal with black employees find this not true”. Watson isn’t the first (or last) person to hold such a view, but here’s what’s different about him, says Rutherford:

“With Nobels, we put people on pedestals and gift them platforms to say whatever they like.”

Another example is Francis Galton, the founder of genetics. Great scientist? No doubt. But also a racist. And today, Galton’s alma mater is still struggling to find “how to scold his racism and continue to respect his scientific legacy, which is undeniable and unrivalled”.

And therein lies the problem. As BoingBoing asks:

“(How) can (we) honor great scientific achievements without giving scientists a free pass to be terrible people?”

In other words, we need to learn to differentiate the scientist from the man. Or as Rutherford says:

“Here’s our challenge: celebrate science when it is great, and scientists when they deserve it. And when they turn out to be awful bigots, let’s be honest about that too. It turns out that just like DNA, people are messy, complex and sometimes full of hideous errors.”

It’s hard for me to not bring in Feynman into this topic. Because he knew the answer to this question: as he put it, we need “a disrespect for respectable…for certain kinds of things”. Now if only we could implement his idea…