Kambiz attended the Humanity's Genes and the Human Condition, and he reports some interesting goings on. Sydney Brenner, Nobel Laureate 2002, had this to say this about human evolution:
Starts off with a zinger: "Biological evolution for humans has stopped." Uhh, really Sydney? You better do better than that. He uses an analogy about how if we feel cold, we don't 'adapt' we just kill an animal, skin it, and wear its pelt as evidence of relaxed natural selection.
I wonder if this the malevolent influence of Steve Jones, but I doubt it. But that wasn't the weird stuff:
Obesity! Lists how our hypothalamus drives us to eat more and convert to fat which means our genomes are mal-adapted to the current cultural environment. Jokes that obesity should be a crime. He points out Alta Charo, the previous speaker on Ethics & Epigenetics. Says she must be jailed and forced to cycle to generate electricity. Sydney advocates that this will kill two birds with one stone, obesity and the energy crisis. There are some uncomfortable laughs. The joke isn't being taken that well.
Looks like Berkeley just needs to keep old Nobel Laureates away from speaking at conferences. From eight years ago, Nobel Winner's Theories Raise Uproar in Berkeley
Geneticist's views strike many as racist, sexist:
``Whenever you interview fat people, you feel bad, because you know you're not going to hire them,'' Watson said.
...
Watson reportedly went on to suggest that people who live in northern climates drink more alcohol to compensate for the unhappiness they suffer because of sunlight deprivation. Then he delved into what he presented as the bad news, good news aspects of being fat, the students said. The bad news, said Watson, is that thin people are more ambitious and therefore make better workers. On the other hand, fat people may be more sexual, Watson told the assembly, because their bloodstreams contain higher levels of leptin, one of the hormones derived from pom-C. He used a slide of a Reubens painting to illustrate the assertion.
In any case, if you want to know more about Brenner's science, In the Beginning Was the Worm is a good overview with biographical detail.
- Log in to post comments
More like this
Hahaha. Oh man. I had a genetics professor in university who was crazy about Brenner. Apparently he'd worked in Brenner's lab at one point. He got the entire genetics lecture hall of 300 to pose with champagne in a picture he could send to Sydney Brenner, but his gestures of admiration were so over the top, and there was always such a bitter undertone whenever he talked about Brenner that you got the impression that his admiration was masking an obsessive sort of jealousy.
This story is evidence that just because someone is a highly accomplished scientist, doesn't mean that he or she can't possibly hold delusional, hateful, or otherwise absurd views. Francis Collins's wackaloon relgious bullshit is a perfect example.
I was at a friend's birthday party recently, whom I hadn't seen much in between when he dropped out of high-school and got married. I really felt out of place amongst the other guests, and the much higher rate of obesity than the people I'd normally interact with was part of it. Definitely not an SWPL crowd, though there were a number of feminist posters and books in addition to a Karl Marx Reader (presumably the wife's though she's a Social Gospel Christian active in her church rather than a genuine commie) about.
For what it is worth, I do not believe Dr. Brenner intended to be taken seriously, and I know (given that I was in the front row) that he most definitely did not point to me or otherwise single me out. As to the laughter, it may have been rueful but it wasn't uncomfortable.
I walked out. I think these guys get so surrounded by yes-men and groupies that they think every crackpot idea they have is scientific gold. It's up to us to keep them in line.
I also think this kind of social pseudoscience on the part of these high-profile scientists reflects an inner need for their own molecular biological research to have some greater societal impact.
Brenner's talk was the icing on the cake of a somewhat embarrassing attempt to "reach out" to the humanities people (who probably think we're a bunch of self-centered Neandertals).
Watson says that sunnier places have more sex drive, i.e. the "Latin-lovers" stereotype. Yet, today in Europe, the evidence shows that Northern European, sexually egalitarian societies, are the most oversexed. Apparently, Italians are the most repressed, b/c of the still strong influence of Catholicism.