In an interview to the Sunday Times in London, James Watson apparently claimed that blacks are less intelligent than whites. Given his fame & credentials, this statement is perhaps as powerfully damaging as crop-dusting our society with carcinogens. One of my first thoughts was whether he has any scientific basis for such a belief, given that scientific endeavour is his demonstrated area of strength. This question was quickly answered in his apology that came soon after, where he states quite explicitly “That is not what I meant. More importantly, there is no scientific basis for such a belief". Reading through the whole article, one can see that making prejudicial statements has been a pattern in his behaviour - clearly, he has an unhealthy habit to get rid of. As a result of his outrageous statements, the speaking engagement at the Science Museum in London was cancelled by the Museum. Some journalists expressed disagreement [1, 2] with this decision, stating that Dr Watson should have got the opportunity to explain himself in the spotlight of public debate. I agree.

While the apology is a step in the right direction, he has unwittingly caused damage that cannot be undone, by providing some folks additional ammunition for promoting racist agendas. Sigh.

My main intent in writing this post is to express something that bothers me - namely that as a society we don't pay nearly enough attention to Emotional Intelligence (EQ) as we do to "traditional" intelligence - the one that's measured by IQ tests. It can be argued that EQ can matter more than IQ in making a person "successful". Daniel Goleman has done pioneering work in promoting the understanding of the role of Emotional Intelligence. In his book "Working with Emotional Intelligence", he has argued that Emotional Intelligence plays a huge role in Exceptional Performance in the workplace, and that companies must pay attention to developing EQ in the workplace (In my long career in corporates, sadly, I have not seen any such effort). His recent book "Social Intelligence" takes EQ from a personal level to an inter-personal level.

Now, coming back to Dr Watson, everyone knows that he was recognized for his outstanding IQ in 1962 by the Nobel Foundation (whether his IQ has the same lustre as 45 years ago is an open question). As for his EQ, it is yet to be determined. I, personally, would give him a failing grade. How about you?.

Let's also ponder about "Spiritual Intelligence" (SQ) [aka Conscience] that another favourite author of mine - Stephen Covey - defines in his book "The 8th Habit" as the inward moral sense of what is right and what is wrong, the drive toward meaning and contribution. It is the guiding force to vision, discipline and passion. When Conscience governs vision, discipline and passion, leadership endures and changes the world for good... The words "for good" means that it "lifts" and also that it "lasts".

Another failing grade for Dr Watson from me!!

Tags: eq, intelligence, iq, james watson, prejudice, racism, sq