2019年经济学人 詹姆斯·沃森:遗传性障碍 (2)

 

Dr Watson's views about race and intelligence seem to stem from his keen interest in "The Bell Curve",

沃森博士关于种族和智商的观点似乎源于他对《钟形曲线》的强烈兴趣，

a book published in 1994 by Charles Murray and Richard Herrnstein, that, among other things,

该书由查理斯·墨瑞和理查德·赫恩斯坦创作并于1994年出版，此外，

argued African-Americans were less intelligent than white Americans and genetic¹ differences between ethnicities played a role in the difference.

该书争论称非裔美国人智商不如美国白人，并且种族划分之间的基因差异在这种差别中起到重要作用。

Modern genetic research has largely discredited² these ideas.

现代基因研究已经让这些想法站不住脚了。

Biologists know that there is a substantial genetic component³ to intelligence.

生物学家知道智力有着大量遗传组成部分。

Depending on the precise measure of intelligence being studied and the statistical⁴ model being used, it can range anywhere from 20-60%.

由于被研究智力的精准测量以及所使用统计模型的不同，其可以在20%到60%之间变动。

And observational research from the 1980s, cited by the authors of "The Bell Curve", showed that,

《钟形曲线》的作者所引用的20世纪80年代的观察研究表明

if you ask people to self-identify on the basis of ethnicity and then measure their mental performance in some way,

如果你让人们以种族为基础进行自我定义，然后用一些方法测量他们的心理作业，

for example IQ or the number of years in education, you will find differences in the mean attainment⁵ levels between different groups.

例如IQ或受教育年数，你将发现不同人群学业水平之间的差别。

Genetics, however, cannot be the main reason for any observed differences, says Ewan Birney,

但基因并不能成为任何观察差异的主要原因，伊万·伯尼

director of the European Bioinformatics Institute, in Cambridge, because self-identification of ethnicity does not easily map onto genetic ancestry⁶.

剑桥欧洲生物信息研究所主任表示，因为对种族的自我认同不能轻易映射到遗传起源上。

"African-Americans have a substantial amount of European genetic ancestry—you should in fact call them 'African-European-Americans'," observes Dr Birney.

“非裔美国人拥有大量的欧洲基因血统—其实你应该称他们为‘非裔欧洲美国人’，”伯尼博士观察称。

Dr Watson has easy access to these scientific insights, which are emerging thick and fast in a field of research that he helped invent.

沃森博士能够轻易获得这些科学观点，这些观点在他帮助发明的这一片研究领域中频频出现。

But if he knows about these latest ideas, he has not acted on them.

但是如果他了解这些最新的想法，那么他不会这么做的。

"Jim Watson," says Dr Birney, "is one of these scientists who has used his gut⁷ to think a lot, often with remarkable⁸ success,

“詹姆斯·沃森，”伯尼博士说到，“是利用直觉思考的科学家之一，直觉经常让他们取得举世瞩目的成就，

but this is a case where his gut is plain, flat wrong. He has had many people tell him that he is wrong and he has decided⁹ not to listen to that.

但这一次，他的直觉是错的。有很多人告诉他，他是错的并且他已经决定不听从他们的建议。

And he has decided not to engage with people who know more than him in this area."

他决定不和那些对这个领域知知甚多的人接洽。”

Dr Watson himself was unable to respond to his critics this week.

沃森博士本身无法回应本周批评他的人。

According to family members who spoke¹⁰ with the New York Times, he has been in hospital following a car accident in October last year.

据家族成员告知《纽约时报》，自去年10月车祸以来，他一直在住院。

Like any other group of people, scientists can be complicated, controversial and do not have to be loved by all.

很任何其他人群一样，科学家们可以是很复杂的、饱受争议且不必被人人所爱的。

Even so, Dr Watson's lifelong desire to provoke might write a bitter epitaph to an otherwise-great scientific career.

即便如此，沃森博士想要挑衅的毕生愿望或许可以写成一篇原本伟大科学事业的苦涩碑文。

1 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

2 discredited   

不足信的，不名誉的

参考例句：

• The reactionary authorities are between two fires and have been discredited. 反动当局弄得进退维谷，不得人心。
• Her honour was discredited in the newspapers. 她的名声被报纸败坏了。

3 component   

n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的

参考例句：

• Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
• Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。

4 statistical   

adj.统计的，统计学的

参考例句：

• He showed the price fluctuations in a statistical table.他用统计表显示价格的波动。
• They're making detailed statistical analysis.他们正在做具体的统计分析。

5 attainment   

n.达到，到达；［常pl.］成就，造诣

参考例句：

• We congratulated her upon her attainment to so great an age.我们祝贺她高寿。
• The attainment of the success is not easy.成功的取得并不容易。

6 ancestry   

n.祖先，家世

参考例句：

• Their ancestry settled the land in 1856.他们的祖辈1856年在这块土地上定居下来。
• He is an American of French ancestry.他是法国血统的美国人。

7 gut   

n.[pl.]胆量；内脏；adj.本能的；vt.取出内脏

参考例句：

• It is not always necessary to gut the fish prior to freezing.冷冻鱼之前并不总是需要先把内脏掏空。
• My immediate gut feeling was to refuse.我本能的直接反应是拒绝。

8 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

9 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

10 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。