Apart from bringing shame to rational New Zealanders and disgrace to the venerable Royal Society’s reputation, what’s specially outrageous about this ratbag outfit is it’s funded by taxpayers.
An academic friend of mine was recently declined research funding by the Society for not being maori. In fact she is, at least like all maoris, in part, but hadn’t mentioned it.
Labour will do nothing about this racial bias but it offers rich pickings for the Nats in the next election to promise an end to our apartheid system as there’s deep anger about it.
In case readers haven’t seen it, below is a copy of Richard Dawkin’s letter sent to the NZ Royal Society a few days ago.
Myths Do Not Belong in Science Classes: Letter to the Royal Society of New Zealand
Education Original Science
Dec 4, 2021
Dr Roger Ridley
Royal Society of New Zealand
Dear Dr Ridley
I have read Jerry Coyne’s long, detailed and fair-minded critique of the ludicrous move to incorporate Maori “ways of knowing” into science curricula in New Zealand, and the frankly appalling failure of the Royal Society of New Zealand to stand up for science – which is, after all, what your Society exists to do.
The world is full of thousands of creation myths and other colourful legends, any of which might be taught alongside Maori myths. Why choose Maori myths? For no better reason than that Maoris arrived in New Zealand a few centuries before Europeans. That would be a good reason to teach Maori mythology in anthropology classes. Arguably there’s even better reason for Australian schools to teach the myths of their indigenous peoples, who arrived tens of thousands of years before Europeans. Or for British schools to teach Celtic myths. Or Anglo-Saxon myths. But no indigenous myths from anywhere in the world, no matter how poetic or hauntingly beautiful, belong in science classes. Science classes are emphatically not the right place to teach scientific falsehoods alongside true science. Creationism is still bollocks even it is indigenous bollocks.
The Royal Society of New Zealand, like the Royal Society of which I have the honour to be a Fellow, is supposed to stand for science. Not “Western” science, not “European” science, not “White” science, not “Colonialist” science. Just science. Science is science is science, and it doesn’t matter who does it, or where, or what “tradition” they may have been brought up in. True science is evidence-based not tradition-based; it incorporates safeguards such as peer review, repeated experimental testing of hypotheses, double-blind trials, instruments to supplement and validate fallible senses etc. True science works: lands spacecraft on comets, develops vaccines against plagues, predicts eclipses to the nearest second, reconstructs the lives of extinct species such as the tragically destroyed Moas.
If New Zealand’s Royal Society won’t stand up for true science in your country who will? What else is the Society for? What else is the rationale for its existence?
Yours very sincerely
Richard Dawkins FRS
Emeritus Professor of the Public Understanding of Science
University of Oxford
20 Comments
The woke leftists are rapidly approaching “peak stupidity “. They can no longer rely on a left infested media to spin their idiotic narrative. Kudos to Sir Bob for being a consistent supporter of sanity.
The unfortunate thing is that I have not seen Dr Dawkins letter reproduced in the so called mainstream press in New Zealand. And no comment from this government’s science minister, why am I not surprised?
…Nor will you. It represents all the things the woke left dislike. Facts rather than feelings, the idea that a (basically) European scientific approach is more developed than a native belief system, and thus judgements can be drawn about relative developement of different cultures.
To publish Dr Dawkins would be to agree that to this. Don’t hold your breath.
Don’t hold your breath about the National party opposing this and other racist nonsense; can you really imagine people like Chris Bishop or Paul Goldsmith doing a Muldoon? (they’d sell you down the river for sixpence if it got them invited to cocktail parties with the Wadestown Socialist set).
Two scenarios –
1. National’s policies for the 2023 election end up being the Communist Manifesto (so as not to upset anybody on the left)
2. National’s policies for the 2023 election include abolishing “apartheid” and all racist twaddle in NZ
Care to hazard a guess as to which would surprise me more if it came to pass?
Sir Robert – you wrote about their lack of principle in your brilliant book “New Zealand The Way I Want it” and the only thing which has changed in 43 years is they are now full blown woke left wingers. Sad but true.
You’re onto it Bob, They are disgraceful & should be stripped of their title.
Thank you Sir Bob.
It is a disgrace and the apartheid system needs to be ended. Keep writing your wonderful posts Sir Bob.
Yep, 100% agree on this..keeping boxing Bob. Sanity must eventually prevail.
Thank you for bringing this to light Sir Bob. I work in a profession that now only refers to “Western Science” and places a significant emphasis on “cultural knowledge”, i.e., the latter must have an equal standard when decisions are made. I’ve regularly asked colleagues why science should be described as western science. I’m now a pariah and treated like a leper.
The East happily practices it too, but I guess that’s further evidence of cultural imperialism.
My son was taught ‘maori engineering’ this year in his first year engineering degree. The focus was more about what you aren’t allowed to do (use certain colours , maori don’t want power lines across their land and other similar concerns). It was very negative learning in any case.
I was recently given the job of applying for lotto funding on behalf of my child’s sport’s club. Halfway through I had to contact the lotto grant authorities about the application — they told me not to bother as the funding focus is currently on maori. Apparently maori have had such a hard time during covid that they need a good injection of lotto funding to cheer them up (not in those words of course but that is what it is).
This whole maori wonderfulness industry is at the cost of others…. not that we expected to receive a grant but certainly didn’t expect to be eliminated purely on the basis of skin colour.
I have personal experience with this. In 2005 I was studying for my Masters and my proposed dissertation topic covered certain aspects of Maori health disparities. I was not allowed to do this work, as a Pakeha, unless I was partnered by someone of Maori dissent. I shit you not, flat out denied for this single reason. I now have my PhD, my education at the NZ tax payer’s expense, and live overseas. My student debts are repaid in full. I don’t plan to return as I have a very comfortable life in my adopted country. I genuinely fear for the future of New Zealand.
Thank you Sir Bob for keeping us informed..We need to stop this Labour Government before its too late
But can we see in due course the reply to this letter?
Our NZRS is worse than useless, like our joirnalists and all those who support them but should know better
Science has been advanced in an unexpected way by the wokes… it is now easy to see how mass hysteria develops, and the effects of carefully designed psychological manipulation bends minds.
Mysteries like how the Germans were enticed into atrocities in the 1930s, are now understandable.
The straight answer to this vote Labour out next election.
Their Iwi caucus appear to be dominating affairs presently (and Jacinda can do very little about it; even if she wanted to), and its no coincidence this is happening mid term; hopeful the voters will forget it come election time.
With the melt down in China’s real estate market, this government will have bigger problems coming, which they wont be able to dismiss and a public service who are poor of delivery and will look like a possum in the headlights.
Time for the silent majority to stand up and say NN MORE, otherwise the this separatist policies will continue.
I hope they keep up the stupidity so they are gone in 2 years
it would be wonerful if all reasoning was presented so clearly. I guess the modern mode of presentation originates in universties. Obtuse writing seems to be normal form today. It extends to everything; guidelines for nurses, teachers, laws and the justification of etc.It is used by maori to obfuscate their demands.Churchill woiuld have had views on.