Literary Master 1983

Chapter 386 The Debate of the Century (Part Two)

"The world is uniting to decipher our own genetic code, so we say: we are entering 'God's forbidden zone,' and we will be punished! So far, we do not know what the outcome will be."

"But God does indeed favor some people. There are some common phenomena that can be observed: the children of athletes are often good at sports, the children of businessmen are good at business, the children of translators learn foreign languages ​​faster than others... They may not be able to reach the level of their parents, but they are clearly superior to ordinary people."

"There is only one thing that is not satisfactory, and that is that in the transmission of intelligence, we do not easily see each generation being stronger than the last, and what we most want to pass on is intelligence - nothing represents us as human beings more than this."

"However, some people are born intelligent, while others are born dull. We always hope that our children will be the former."

"Is this even possible? Even the top scientists can't do it, and they even have differing opinions."

At this point, the scene shifts to reveal two other people behind Larry King: Clark and Watson. This pair, who both won the Nobel Prize in 62, have now become estranged and world-renowned enemies.

Both Watson and Clark have red flags that are unacceptable to the public.

Among them, Watson, the top lecturer at Cold Spring Harbor, needs no introduction. Every word he uttered was more terrifying than that of the KKK, because he completely denied the identity of some Black people as human beings. This made Black people hate him to the core.

Clark offended Christians because he believed that the soul did not exist and was a subject of neuroscience research.

Larry King felt that today's show was going to be a hit.

"For an orderly debate, we should have several central topics; with the agreement of both sides, these topics are as follows—"

Are there any races that are significantly more intelligent than others?

Is intelligence the most core value of humankind?

"Are we too avoiding talking about racial intelligence, or are we going too deep into it? Will this hurt anyone? We need to discuss these kinds of questions! This debate will also include a live interview with Jimmy Frokuz, Time magazine's China bureau chief, to see what a third party has to say."

Watson and Clark both appeared confident in the live stream.

Larry King asked them if they were ready. They all replied, "We are ready."

A short introductory video was played on the screen.

The concept of "intelligence" originated in the late 20th century and was quite novel. It immediately attracted the attention of scientists, who were curious about the extent to which intelligence determines a person's development, and how it was also used for selecting and screening individuals.

The Nazi "Beautiful Aryan" program was not the only policy of human intervention. The United States also used intelligence "screening" of immigrants to support the idea of ​​eugenics, and implemented a policy of forced sterilization for this purpose.

Why is intelligence always associated with "racial discrimination"?

Because such tragedies have indeed occurred in history, and they were committed by Americans themselves.

As soon as the introductory video ended, Watson said, "I think it's unethical to conduct intelligence screening and elimination, but reverse selection is foolish! There are indeed some people today who are smarter than others, and they are more likely to utilize their talents."

“A good social selection mechanism is to put people in positions that suit them, something that even primitive societies could do. We let the physically stronger men hunt and wage war, and let the meticulous women make clothes and raise children in caves... And then what? We humans began to differentiate ourselves from apes, and ten thousand years later, we even created nuclear bombs and satellites.”

Clark questioned Watson's departure from the topic: "What are we talking about? We're just talking about intelligence."

Watson nodded immediately and smoothly transitioned to his own topic: "Intelligence is the 'hunting' and 'war' of this era. These social responsibilities should be given to the intelligent, with the capable rising and the mediocre falling. This helps the continuation of our human race. Many of the strange phenomena in our world today are due to fools being over-educated and placed in positions they shouldn't be in."

"This is causing our society to die slowly."

Clark retorted, "Your words are extremely rude; you are deliberately humiliating certain people..."

His meaning was clear: Clark believed that Watson's words were an insult to the Black community.

Watson, however, asked him, "Why do you think I'm insulting certain people? I think the very statement you made is insulting certain people. How ridiculous is it that you're opposing something you actually agree with?"

Clark, a gentleman, immediately turned red with anger: "You've never changed, you've always been an asshole!"

Watson burst into laughter.

The live broadcast was paused for about ten seconds, and the audience in the studio went wild. The ratings probably skyrocketed at that moment!
The seasoned Larry King deliberately delayed for about ten seconds before getting involved in the debate:
"Silence!" He slammed his fist on the table. "What exactly are you referring to? Aren't we discussing the most intelligent race? But you're starting with the most..."

Larry King couldn't bring up that person either, as he had to avoid the topic as the host.

But the reason he avoided the topic was because he had already made his own judgment, and he knew that saying such things would hurt the Black community.

Watson was acutely aware of this, and everyone knew what was going on, but no one dared to bring it up.

He immediately sighed, "This kind of hypocritical 'correctness' is everywhere in our lives! I am the one in Andersen's fairy tale who speaks the truth; only in the world of fairy tales can I escape punishment!"

These words touched Larry King and silenced the live stream.

Watson began recounting his surreal experiences in China over the past few months: he had long suspected that East Asians were exceptionally intelligent, but initially it was just a guess. Because he constantly encountered Chinese PhDs and professors… he suspected these were extreme variables.

When he came to China and conducted numerous tests, his speculations gradually became fact.

In exams, Chinese students consistently achieve better scores on the same test paper; how good are these scores? Even students from Dalton Academy, one of the top private high schools in the United States, cannot match them.

Although they all come from wealthy families in their respective countries, the resources they have are vastly different. This can only be explained by genetics.

"You don't think that the nutritional conditions of Chinese students are comparable to those of Dalton School, do you? Even though it's one of China's top high schools."

Within Dalton School, there has been a phenomenon of Chinese students achieving excellence in multiple tests.

"What about internationally? There is a competition called the International Mathematical Olympiad. Since its inception, the champion has long been dominated by children from Europe, America and the Soviet Union. There has not been a single African."

"But that's not the most interesting part. What's interesting is that Chinese children's grades are improving rapidly. They are improving so rapidly, and from such a low starting point, that I believe a phenomenon will emerge in the future: China will become an intellectual superpower, at least no less than the United States and the Soviet Union."

"Considering that there are many Chinese Americans, perhaps in the future it will become a game for 'Chinese' people from various countries. No matter what nationality the person on the podium is, they will all look Chinese... Of course, this is just my wild idea, and it may not come true."

Watson's point is now fully made. He believes that as a scientist, he has discovered a fact: Chinese people have the highest intelligence, and this is not due to any racial discrimination, but rather an objective fact.

He observed this for many years; he was not an idealist.

"Another thing that convinced me was that before I left, Yu from China wrote to me saying that my intelligence test had sparked a competition craze in the Chinese capital, with many parents forcing their children to study advanced mathematics!"

“I feel sorry for these children because they didn’t have to do this; I am also happy because this kind of advanced mathematics has been promoted in the United States many times over many years... but we have never succeeded.”

"In China, they succeeded in just two months. They complained endlessly and felt exhausted, but they succeeded."

The audience was stunned and speechless.

The show's ratings also surged to their peak at that moment.

Larry King then connected with Jimmy Frokuz in China and gave a brief introduction:
“He is Yu’s classmate in China. One of his Chinese subordinates, who had followed Yu for a long time and developed a very good personal relationship with him, won the Pulitzer Prize for Journalism this year.”

"Jimmy Frokuz interviewed the highest-ranking figures in China; he was a true China expert. He almost looked Chinese. In 1983, when Yu Qie had just entered university, he was astonished to find a group of naked foreigners lying in the sun under the dormitory of international students! And on that grassy area, there once stood Frokuz's American buttocks."

"He lived in room 346, and the Chinese affectionately called him 'Jimmy'—let's hear what Jimmy has to say?"

After a few beeps, the journalist named Jimmy, based in China, described the scene he witnessed in the Chinese capital over the phone: After Watson left, Chinese people in the capital were taking intelligence tests on themselves, as if they had just discovered that they were actually exceptionally intelligent.

There are many intelligence test questions on the market, and they always sell out quickly.

Most people do not feel frustrated in intelligence tests; they always manage to get a surprising score.

Currently, from adults to children in China, there seems to be little taboo about discussing intelligence...

Watson's eyes welled up with tears: this was exactly the kind of highly intelligent country he had always dreamed of.

Here, no one is a fool.

That's why they don't find talking about "intelligence" offensive, because they are confident enough.

“Thank you for the message from Jimmy in China. His words seem to confirm Professor Watson’s conclusion,” Larry King commented cautiously.

The live stream room suddenly became so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Watson felt he had won a great victory. He began to talk about "The Village Teacher" and the Chinese rural education depicted in it.

Watson lamented, “China is not war-torn Africa; they have their own governments to do this. But we can make more intellectual investments in China, indirectly helping them and also helping humanity itself. I believe this would be a wise move.”

History will prove that I am not a madman.

Watson then stood up, ready to shake hands with Clark, believing he had won a resounding victory.

Larry King Live lasts about an hour, and the recording of the show is now coming to an end.

However, Clark refused to back down, saying, "You have a misconception here. You think intelligence is the entirety of human ability. In fact, people with higher intelligence don't necessarily have better development. Chinese people are just a target you set up for racial discrimination... In reality, you worship intelligence, and you discriminate against black people in various ways."

Watson, looking down at Clark, was furious at his unreasonable behavior.

But upon a little calm reflection, Clark's words are partially correct. Intelligence is certainly not the entirety of humanity.

Moreover, Watson did indeed discriminate against Black people.

Although he didn't admit it, after discovering that Black people were indeed less intelligent, he couldn't help but like Chinese people and instinctively disliked Black people.

The Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, which he leads, hosts many researchers from China every year. Watson treats them like family, helping them solve their problems—a kindness that is quite rare for him.

He would have even considered kicking out Dalton's students and sending students from Yenching University's primary school instead, if Chinese students could afford the summer camp at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.

Seeing Watson remain silent, Clark continued, "The world is diverse; you can't so arbitrarily determine a person's worth."

Watson, seeing that time was running out, immediately lost interest and said, "Clark, you're right."

Before Clark could reply, Watson continued, "Do you know why? Because I want you to have a black child with an IQ of 83, as you said. He will be good at American football and basketball, and maybe even have some musical talent... Apart from being less intelligent, he seems to have no other flaws."

“I believe you will like this child, because that’s what you said today. You will.”

Clark trembled with rage: "Watson, you're so rude!"

Clark then announced his boycott, bringing the show to a close. Larry King didn't even have a chance to give his closing remarks.

But the show's ratings skyrocketed, with a total of 17 million Americans watching the live broadcast.

The stereotype that Chinese people are highly intelligent has become a common one among this group of American viewers. Clark's eventual breakdown suggests that he subconsciously believes in the crucial role of intelligence in personal development.

Watson was a great success in the debate, but his personal reputation took a sharp turn for the worse.

Even if what he said is true, he can't just go around spreading it. American society may not throw him into prison or revoke all his honors like it did in the original timeline, but at the very least, it cannot affirm him in mainstream values.

Watson became a pariah in the scientific community, with few people willing to speak up for him. He began to be unpopular, and people avoided him at various academic gatherings.

On the other side in China, the effects of this debate came a little later.

Yu Qie saw the program two weeks later.

(End of this chapter)