Is the Nobel prize committee biased in favor of Jews? A Swedish academic makes a ham-fisted attempt at finding out.
As Alexander Pope pointed out for us, the proper study of mankind is man. There is nothing wrong then, about studying how groups differ from each other. To the very contrary, this is exactly what social scientists are supposed to do. Whether your work is for good or bad all depends on how it is that you go about your business.
It is therefore fair to ask: why is it that this specific group scores highly on such and such a trait?
A Norwegian historian recently pointed out that when Jews are disproportionately well represented among Nobel prize winners, it makes sense to study the academic culture and universities they come from, rather than simply assume it is all due to conspiracy and racism.
Jan C. Biro, Karolingska Insitute, Sweden, disagrees. He has put together the essay “The Jewish bias of the nobel prize“, in which he finds that Jews are disproportionately often awarded the Nobel prize and that this violates Alfred Nobel’s will, which states: “…that in awarding the prizes no consideration be given to the nationality of the candidates, but that the most worthy shall receive the prize …”
Biro’s article could have been interesting. The man is a PhD so he has the required skills, but sadly he does not put them to use. Instead of something worthwhile Biro churns out this kind of thing:
It is often mentioned (in scientific and popular readings) that the Jewish IQ is higher than the Gentile IQ, i.e. Jewish people are smarter and therefore contribute more to the intellectual activity of a society than non-Jews… The Nobel Assembly has probably already made the policy decision in February when it decides which field of research should be honored. This is a very important decision and may fundamentally decide for or against the J-bias…And it is here that Jewish scientists can and do use of their talent for networking (with other Jews) and their exceptional verbal intelligence.
Material such as the above is the work of an intelligent quack. The following, from the same article, is the work of a fool:
Gentiles often seems to be easy prey. Gentiles, as a majority group, are most likely exposed to competition from other Gentiles and are often poorly prepared for concurrent competition from a smart, minority Jew. Christian life and forgiveness, postponing justice and individual rewards to “the world after this world”, is not the best strategy for Earthly success. The economic naivety of many Gentile scientists and their “sweet” idealism regarding the goodness of “all” people (Humankind!) is especially regrettable in this context.
In isolation, articles like Biro’s cannot do much damage. But throughout history we have seen how quacks and eccentrics gang together to spin powerful conspiracy theories which do nothing but harm to society in general, and very often the Jews especially.
