Noah Carl: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

'''Noah Carl''' is a British [[sociologist]] and [[intelligence]] researcher who co-owns the ''[[The Daily Sceptic|Daily Sceptic]]'' blog. He was investigated and subsequently dismissed from his position as a Toby Jackman Newton Trust Research Fellow at [[St Edmund's College, Cambridge]] after over 500 academics signed a letter repudiating his research and public stance on [[race and intelligence]], calling it "ethically suspect and methodologically flawed", and stating their concern that "racist [[pseudoscience]] is being legitimised through association with the [[University of Cambridge]]."<ref name="letter2">{{cite web|url=https://medium.com/@racescienceopenletter/open-letter-no-to-racist-pseudoscience-at-cambridge-472e1a7c6dca|title=Open Letter: No to Racist Pseudoscience at Cambridge|website=medium.com|date=19 December 2018|access-date=8 May 2019}}</ref><ref name="Adams_2019_1">{{cite news|last1=Adams|first1=Richard|date=1 May 2019|title=Cambridge college sacks researcher over links with far right|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2019/may/01/cambridge-university-college-dismisses-researcher-far-right-links-noah-carl|access-date=17 May 2019}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|last=Busby|first=Eleanor|date=2 May 2019|title=Cambridge University college sacks academic over links to far-right extremists|website=[[Independent.co.uk]]|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/cambridge-university-college-st-edmunds-noah-carl-far-right-extremists-a8896211.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220621/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/cambridge-university-college-st-edmunds-noah-carl-far-right-extremists-a8896211.html |archive-date=21 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live}}</ref> An investigation by the college concluded that Carl's work was "poor scholarship" which violated standards of [[academic integrity]], and that Carl had collaborated with [[Far-right politics|right-wing extremists]].<ref name=":3">{{cite web|date=30 April 2019|title=Statement from the Master regarding the outcome of the investigations into complaints about the appointment of Research Fellow|url=https://www.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/sites/www.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/files/Statement%20by%20Master%20for%20website_outcome%20FINAL30%20April%202019.pdf|access-date=8 May 2019}}</ref> Some newspaper columnists criticised the decision to dismiss Carl as an attack on [[academic freedom]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-times-view-on-the-sacking-of-noah-carl-monoversities-fhc7027qb|title=The Times view on the sacking of Noah Carl: Monoversities|date=10 May 2019|work=The Times}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/05/05/intolerant-zealots-strangling-intellectual-freedom-universities/|title=Intolerant zealots are strangling the intellectual freedom of our universities|last=Mirza|first=Munira|date=5 May 2019|work=The Telegraph}}</ref> Others questioned whether St Edmund's had failed to properly vet him before he was hired in the first place.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6">{{Cite news|last=van der Merwe|first=Ben|date=1 May 2019|title=Former Nuffield fellow Noah Carl expelled from Cambridge|work=Cherwell|url=https://cherwell.org/2019/05/01/former-nuffield-fellow-noah-carl-expelled-from-cambridge/}}</ref>

== Biography ==

Carl received a BA in Human Sciences, an MSc in Sociology and a DPhil in Sociology from the [[University of Oxford]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/people/dr-noah-carl|title=Dr Noah Carl The Toby Jackman Newton Trust Research Fellow|publisher=St. Edmund's College website|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329224750/https://www.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/people/dr-noah-carl|access-date=7 December 2018|archive-date=29 March 2019}}</ref> His DPhil thesis was titled ''Cognitive ability and socio-political beliefs and attitudes''.<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Carl |first=Noah |date=2017 |title=Cognitive ability and socio-political beliefs and attitudes |type= |url=https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:856fc58a-120f-4a51-a569-422e201e9f61 |access-date=21 June 2022}}</ref> Prior to his appointment to the [[St Edmund's College, Cambridge]] fellowship, Carl received media attention for papers on the link between artistic tastes and views on [[Brexit]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/oct/10/brexit-supporters-realism-remainers-impressionism-art-study-sociologists|title=Brexiters like realism, remainers prefer impressionist art, study finds|last1=Hern|first1=Alex|date=10 October 2018|access-date=7 December 2018}}</ref> the reasons why London pubs are disappearing,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/britain/2017/08/24/why-londons-pubs-are-disappearing|title=Why London's pubs are disappearing|date=24 August 2017|access-date=10 December 2018|publisher=The Economist}}</ref> and a study for [[Adam Smith Institute]] which found that conservatives were heavily underrepresented among academics at British universities.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/academias-lurch-to-the-left-raises-concerns-for-campus-free-speech-wgjllq8lq|title=Lurch to left raises concerns for campus free speech|last=Hurst|first=Greg|date=2 March 2017|work=The Times|access-date=8 December 2018|language=en|issn=0140-0460}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/03/03/must-ever-vigilant-lefts-insidous-domination-institutions/|title=We must be ever vigilant of the Left's insidious domination of our institutions|last=Moore|first=Charles|date=3 March 2017|work=The Telegraph|access-date=8 December 2018|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}}</ref> Additionally, he was in the news for a study on the relationship between intelligence and trust in other members of society.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/03/study-smarter-people-are-more-trusting/284520/|title=Study: Smarter People Are More Trusting|last=Beck|first=Julie|date=20 March 2014|website=The Atlantic}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wiwo.de/erfolg/trends/studie-der-universitaet-oxford-intelligente-menschen-vertrauen-anderen-schneller/9632766.html|title=Studie der Universität Oxford: Warum dumme Menschen keinem trauen|website=Wirtschaftswoche|language=de|date=18 March 2014}}</ref>

His work has been published in academic journals such as ''[[Intelligence (journal)|Intelligence]]'', the ''[[Journal of Biosocial Science]]'', the ''[[British Journal of Sociology]]'', as well as ''[[Mankind Quarterly]]'', which is commonly described as a white supremacist journal.<ref>{{Cite Henews |last=Ben |first=van der Merwe |date=7 December 2018 |title=Former Nuffield fellow denounced for "racist pseudoscience" |url=https://cherwell.org/2018/12/07/former-nuffield-fellow-denounced-for-racist-pseudoscience/ |work=[[Cherwell (newspaper)|Cherwell]] |quote=Carl has also written for Mankind Quarterly, described as a white supremacist journal and published by the Pioneer Fund, a pro-eugenics fund which also bankrolls Jared Taylor’s white nationalist American Renaissance.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Saini |first=Angela |title=Why race science is on the rise again |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/may/18/race-science-on-the-rise-angela-saini |work=The Guardian |pages=18 May 2019}}</ref> As of 2018, he was the second most prolific contributor to ''~~Open Quantitative Sociology & Political Science~~[[OpenPsych]]'', an online ~~journal~~publisher that has been described in the ''[[New Statesman]]'' as a "pseudo-science factory-farm",.<ref>{{cite web|last=Van der Merwe|first=Ben|date=20 December 2018|title=No, objecting to Cambridge's appointment of a eugenicist is not about free speech|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/education/2018/12/no-objecting-cambridge-s-appointment-eugenicist-not-about-free-speech|work=[[New Statesman]]}}</ref> and he has contributed to ''[[Mankind Quarterly]]'', which is described as a white supremacist journal.<ref>{{cite book|title=Measured Lies: The Bell Curve Examined|title-link=Measured Lies: The Bell Curve Examined|date=14 March 1997|publisher=St. Martin's Press|isbn=978-0-312-17228-2|editor1-last=Gresson|editor1-first=Aaron|edition=1st St. Martin's Griffin|page=39|editor2-last=Kincheloe|editor2-first=Joe L.|editor2-link=Joe L. Kincheloe|editor3-last=Steinberg|editor3-first=Shirley R.|editor3-link=Shirley R. Steinberg}}</ref> According to an article in the ''New Statesman'' from February 2018, Carl had also published two papers on whether larger Muslim populations make terrorism more likely and one suggesting that British stereotypes about immigrants are "largely accurate".<ref name="newstatesmen2">{{cite web|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/education/2018/02/it-might-be-pseudo-science-students-take-threat-eugenics-seriously|title=It might be a pseudo science, but students take the threat of eugenics seriously|last1=Van Der Merwe|first1=Ben|date=19 February 2018|publisher=New Statesman|access-date=7 December 2018}}</ref> In relation to the latter article, the ''New Statesman'' quoted Dr. Niko Yiannakoulias of [[McMaster University]] as commenting: "It is never OK to publish research this bad, even in an inconsequential online journal."<ref name="newstatesmen2" />

Carl has spoken twice at the [[London Conference on Intelligence]], a private conference on [[human intelligence]] at which some attendees presented papers on [[race and intelligence]] and [[eugenics]].<ref name="newstatesmen2" /> He was one of 15 attendees to collaborate on a letter defending the conference following media coverage. The letter was published in the journal ''[[Intelligence (journal)|Intelligence]]'' in September 2018.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Woodley of Menie|first1=Michael A.|last2=Dutton|first2=Edward|last3=Figueredo|first3=Aurelio-José|author-link3=Aurelio José Figueredo|last4=Carl|first4=Noah|author-link4=Noah Carl|last5=Debes|first5=Fróði|last6=Hertler|first6=Steven|last7=Irwing|first7=Paul|author-link7=Paul Irwing|last8=Kura|first8=Kenya|last9=Lynn|first9=Richard|author-link9=Richard Lynn|date=September 2018|title=Communicating intelligence research: Media misrepresentation, the Gould Effect, and unexpected forces|journal=Intelligence|volume=70|pages=84–87|doi=10.1016/j.intell.2018.04.002|last10=Madison|first10=Guy|last11=Meisenberg|first11=Gerhard|author-link11=Gerhard Meisenberg|last12=Miller|first12=Edward M.|author-link12=Edward M. Miller|last13=te Nijenhuis|first13=Jan|author-link13=Jan te Nijenhuis|last14=Nyborg|first14=Helmuth|author-link14=Helmuth Nyborg|last15=Rindermann|first15=Heiner|s2cid=150156004|author-link15=Heiner Rindermann}}</ref>

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An internal investigation at St Edmund's concluded that Carl's work demonstrated "poor scholarship" and "did not comply with established criteria for research ethics and integrity", and that it fell outside the normal protections for academic free speech as a result.<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{cite news|last1=Bradbury|first1=Rosie|last2=Cook|first2=Joe|date=30 April 2019|title=Controversial research fellow Noah Carl dismissed by St Edmund's|language=en|work=Varsity Online|url=https://www.varsity.co.uk/news/17456|access-date=2 May 2019}}</ref> The investigation also found that Carl had "collaborated with a number of individuals who were known to hold extremist views", and that continuing his affiliation would risk allowing the college to be used to "promote views that could incite racial or religious hatred" and damage the reputation of the college. Carl was subsequently dismissed from his fellowship.<ref name="Adams_2019_1" /> A separate investigation into the appointment process itself found no irregularities in the process of recruiting Carl, but did recommend changes to future hiring procedures.<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Elias|first=Patrick|date=30 April 2019|title=External Investigation into the appointment of the Toby Jackman Newton Trust Research Fellow|url=https://www.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/sites/www.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/files/attachments/Investigation%20report%20for%20the%20website.pdf|website=St Edmunds College, Cambridge}}</ref>

An editorial in ''[[The Times]]'' was critical of the decision to terminate Carl's post, arguing that his "main offence seems to have been to challenge the 'woke' left-wing orthodoxy".<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=10 May 2019 |title=The Times view on the sacking of Noah Carl: Monoversities |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-times-view-on-the-sacking-of-noah-carl-monoversities-fhc7027qb |work=[[The Times]]}}</ref> Opinion columnists in ''[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]'' and ''[[The Spectator]]'' also criticised the decision.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |last=Mirza |first=Munira |date=5 May 2019 |title=Intolerant zealots are strangling the intellectual freedom of our universities |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/05/05/intolerant-zealots-strangling-intellectual-freedom-universities/ |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2019/05/the-truth-about-noah-carl/|title=The truth about Noah Carl|last=Campbell|first=Hugh|date=4 May 2019|work=The Spectator}}</ref>

Historian Evan Smith argued that the narrative advanced by Carl's defenders "has little basis in reality", and that it is rather these defenders who seek to stifle free speech by mobilizing a fear of "wokeness" in order to diffuse the power of student protest.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Smith|first=Evan|date=26 June 2021|title=Conservatives Are the Ones Attacking Free Speech at Universities|work=Jacobin|url=https://www.jacobinmag.com/2021/06/australia-coalition-conservatives-liberal-party-free-speech-universities-campus-french-report}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Smith|first=Evan|date=10 August 2020|title=The 'crisis' over academic freedom from the 1970s to the 2020s|url=https://www.historyworkshop.org.uk/the-crisis-over-academic-freedom-from-the-1970s-to-the-2020s/|journal=History Workshop Journal|volume=91}}</ref> Reaction from supporters of Carl's firing also focused on questioning whether St Edmund's had failed to properly vet him before he was hired in the first place.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite news|last=Dexter|first=Louis|title=Can Cambridge University just listen to their student body and stop letting in unethical, unacademic right-wing speakers, like, now please?|work=The Cambridge Tab|url=https://thetab.com/uk/cambridge/2019/05/09/can-cambridge-university-just-listen-to-their-student-body-and-stop-letting-in-unethical-unacademic-right-wing-speakers-like-now-please-124421}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite news |last=van der Merwe |first=Ben |date=1 May 2019 |title=Former Nuffield fellow Noah Carl expelled from Cambridge |url=https://cherwell.org/2019/05/01/former-nuffield-fellow-noah-carl-expelled-from-cambridge/ |work=Cherwell}}</ref>

In June 2019, Noah Carl began crowdfunding a legal challenge to his dismissal.<ref name=":7">{{cite news|last1=Bradbury|first1=Rosie|last2=van der Merwe|first2=Ben|date=12 July 2019|title=Developer who created crowdfunding site for white supremacists set up private limited company for Noah Carl|work=Varsity|url=https://www.varsity.co.uk/news/17727|access-date=26 June 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Young |first1=Toby |title=How Noah Carl is fighting back against Cambridge |url=https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2019/06/how-noah-carl-is-fighting-back-against-cambridge/ |publisher=The Spectator |access-date=28 June 2019}}</ref> In September 2019 his $100,000 fundraising goal was reached.<ref name="Stacey">{{cite news |last1=Stacey |first1=Stephanie |title=Dismissed research fellow Noah Carl raises over $100,000 to fund legal action against Eddie's |url=https://www.varsity.co.uk/news/17849 |access-date=5 October 2019 |work=Varsity |date=24 September 2019}}</ref> ''[[Varsity (Cambridge)|Varsity]]'' reported that this campaign was coordinated by a company created by a developer named Conner Douglass who had provided similar services to [[White nationalism|white nationalist]] [[Richard B. Spencer|Richard Spencer]] and other [[Neo-Nazism|neo-Nazis]] involved in the 2017 [[Unite the Right rally|"Unite the Right" rally]] in Charlottesville, Virginia.<ref name=":4">{{Cite news|last=Stacey|first=Stephanie|date=24 September 2019|title=Dismissed research fellow Noah Carl raises over $100,000 to fund legal action against Eddie's|work=Varsity|url=https://www.varsity.co.uk/news/17849}}</ref><ref name=":7" />

In March 2021, Carl withdrew his claim; the case was settled by a confidential agreement between both parties.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/sites/www.st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk/files/St%20Edmunds%20College%20Announcement%2003-03-2021.pdf |title=St Edmund's College Announcement 03-03-2021 |author= |date=3 March 2021 |website= |publisher=St Edmund's College, University of Cambridge |access-date=9 June 2021 |quote=}}</ref>

Reviewing the controversy surrounding Carl's dismissal in 2023, scholar John M. Herbert distinguished between [[academic freedom]] and inflammatory remarks including [[racism]] in a different setting, for example arguing that "academic freedom is not the same as absolution or immunity from the consequences of extramural speech." He would go on to support Carl being dismissed on the basis Carl authored pseudoscience papers outside of his research at the University of Cambridge and also commented: "Noah Carl's Oxford credentials were touted by [[White supremacists]] in order to promote [[eugenics]]."<ref>Herbert, John M. "[https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2023/dd/d2dd00111j Academic free speech or right-wing grievance?]." ''Digital Discovery'' 2, no. 2 (2023): 260-297.</ref>

==''The Daily Sceptic''==

Since October 2021, Carl has been a director of the company Skeptics Ltd., publisher of ''[[The Daily Sceptic]]'' which promotes [[COVID-19_vaccine_misinformation_and_hesitancy|misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines]] and [[climate change denial]].<ref>Nafeez Ahmed. [https://bylinetimes.com/2022/01/25/conservation-rebellion-against-johnson-led-by-pandemic-disinformation-network/ Conservative Rebellion Against Johnson Led by Pandemic Disinformation Network]. ''Byline Times''. 25 January 2022.</ref><ref>[https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/13246865/officers Skeptics Ltd]. [[Companies House]].</ref>

Carl is a frequent writer for ''The Daily Sceptic'' and has published articles critical of the [[COVID-19 lockdown in the United Kingdom]] as well as support for the [[Great Barrington Declaration]].<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/03063968231164905 | doi=10.1177/03063968231164905 | title=An anatomy of the British war on woke | date=2023 | last1=c. Davies | first1=Huw | last2=MacRae | first2=Sheena E. | journal=Race & Class }}</ref>

==''Aporia Magazine''==

Carl is currently an editor for the ''Aporia Magazine'' which has published interviews with eugenicists and advocates of [[scientific racism]].<ref>{{Cite web|author=Wilson, Jason|date=2024|title=Activist who led ouster of Harvard president linked to 'scientific racism' journal|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/31/rightwing-activist-christopher-rufo-ties-scientific-racism-journal|website=[[The Guardian]]|language=en-GB|archive-date=June 20, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240620223458/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/31/rightwing-activist-christopher-rufo-ties-scientific-racism-journal|url-status=live}}</ref>

==References==

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[[Category:Intelligence researchers]]

[[Category:People from Cambridge]]

[[Category:~~Race~~Proponents ~~and~~of ~~intelligence~~scientific ~~controversy~~racism]]

[[Category:~~1990~~People ~~births~~involved in race and intelligence controversies]]

[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]

[[Category:COVID-19 vaccine misinformation and hesitancy]]