Science's new form of being "PC": what's in a name?

[Scuba Pete]

Consider the noble Jewfish. This magnificent creature has always amazed me by it's size and grace in the water. But apparently, scientists have decided that the name is demeaning and anti semitic. Never mind that this is probably a contraction for "jewel fish", it appears that these intrepid scientists want to make things right.

A few years ago they decided it to rename this fish more appropriately. So, instead of being called a "jewfish", this wonderful species is now named after the Jew's worst enemy. That's right, the new name is the "Goliath Grouper". No, that wasn't a typo, but the unmitigated truth.

This brings up the perennial question: Why is that bright people make such Stoopid mistakes? Is this a case of absent minded professor, or do you suspect a more nefarious intent?

 

[Valjean]

Misplaced PC, and self-esteem issues among those who feel wronged or insulted.
No-one would object to a WASP fish -- WASPS would probably find the appellation amusing.

But "grace in the water?" Have you ever seen a Jewfish? -- they're even uglier and more ungainly than ordinary groupers.
Sharks are graceful. Groupers, just ungainly.

 

[Scuba Pete]

Of course there are also...

Allah fish

monk fish

cardinal fish

Egyptian perch

Quaker parakeet

Florida Gar

and my favorite: The Immaculate Damsel!

 

[Random]

OP wrecks my head. I don't understand the question. :sad:

 

[Scuba Pete]

Sorry about that... I will try to type slow and use small words!

You know, it would be FAR better if they tried to change names like "slippery dick".

 

[Random]

You know, it would be FAR better if they tried to change names like "slippery dick".

Er...yup! It sure would...

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

This brings up the perennial question: Why is that bright people make such Stoopid mistakes? Is this a case of absent minded professor, or do you suspect a more nefarious intent?

Back in the day, they used to refer to some people as "mongoloid".

There was an idea, now outdated, that each of us transitioned through our entire evolutionary history as we developed in the womb. In the broad strokes, there's an elegance to this theory: we do start off as a single cell, and we do go through a phase that has fish-like gills. As it turns out, it completely falls apart when you look at fetal development in detail, but it was an accepted theory for a time.

During this period, an idea (in hindsight an awful, racist idea) surfaced that at the end stages of fetal development, the fetus "evolved" through each race of people from "lowest" to "highest". It was suggested that some children's development stopped while they were still in the "Mongol" stage before they had a chance to "progress" to the "highest" level (which was, of course, defined by the normally developed white baby).

When science debunked the theory behind this idea, they got rid of the racist term "mongoloid" and changed the name of the condition to Down Syndrome, after John Langdon Down, the person who came up with the original racist hypothesis and description, which he had published in his paper "Observations on an Ethnic Classification of Idiots"(in which he not only classifies "Mongolian idiots" but "Ethiopian" and "Malay" ones as well, and describes "idiots" in general as "white negroes").

So... the decision-making process went something like this:

"The name for this condition is inaccurate, racist and generally awful. We need to change it."

"Okay... how about we name it for the person who came up with the inaccurate, racist and generally awful term?"

:banghead3

In your case, I don't think it was anything nefarious. As you can see, this sort of thing happens from time to time.

 

[Bathsheba]

Consider the noble Jewfish. This magnificent creature has always amazed me by it's size and grace in the water. But apparently, scientists have decided that the name is demeaning and anti semitic. Never mind that this is probably a contraction for "jewel fish", it appears that these intrepid scientists want to make things right.

A few years ago they decided it to rename this fish more appropriately. So, instead of being called a "jewfish", this wonderful species is now named after the Jew's worst enemy. That's right, the new name is the "Goliath Grouper". No, that wasn't a typo, but the unmitigated truth.

This brings up the perennial question: Why is that bright people make such Stoopid mistakes? Is this a case of absent minded professor, or do you suspect a more nefarious intent?

Chron.com | News, search and shopping from the Houston Chronicle

Nah, nothing "nefarious", nothing PC, no new science "form", no there there. Was it an odd choice? Yup. "Science" doesn't have anything to do with this incident.

Do you think bright people shouldn't make stupid mistakes? If your question is in fact perennial, this perpetual questioning just seems stupid to me (not you Pete, the supposedly "perennial question"), the question has been answered.

I like the questions answered in this book:
Why Smart People Believer Weird Things--Prof. Shermer

And if you are actually serious about the "perennial question" check out:
Amazon.com: Blind Spots: Why Smart People Do Dumb Things: Books: Madeleine L. Van Hecke

This is a most EXCELLENT book on the subject:
Amazon.com: Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts: Books: Carol Tavris,Elliot Aronson

Plus you can listen to Carol on a podcast here (I highly recommend this podcast):
Point of Inquiry » Episode Archive » Carol Tavris - Mistakes Were Made