Geoffrey Miller has caused quite the stir on twitter (see here and here).
From the Daily Mail:
A New York University psychology professor has caused outrage among the academic community after he posted a message on Twitter suggesting that obese PhD students are not capable of completing the program.
Geoffrey Miller, who specializes in evolutionary psychology, tweeted on Sunday: ‘Dear obese PhD applicants: If you don’t have the willpower to stop eating carbs, you won’t have the willpower to do a dissertation. #truth.’
Professor Miller, who is visiting NYU from the University of New Mexico, quickly deleted the message after a backlash from students and professors alike.
It was a flippant comment that is now being used by PC Cops to try to destroy Miller (probably for other reasons).
Miller does have tenure, but I suppose he’s worried about other repercussions. Overall, Miller is an outstanding scholar unafraid to challenge politically correct propaganda. Here are some recent articles:
“Chinese Eugenics” (2013)
“Why the seduction crowd picked up on my work” (2013)
“The looming crisis in human genetics” (2009)
If Miller does get Galileo’d, as others have suggested, at least he’ll be in good company — including not only Galileo himself, but James Watson, Francis Crick, Satoshi Kanazawa, Jason Richwine, et al.
Remember, the Cathedral (aka, political correctness / universalism / Cultural Marxism) is a religion; people who violate it are seen as heretics; the truth value of their statements is irrelevant.
Political correctness today is anti-science, which is why any unbiased seeker of truth will ultimately oppose it. In the words of Miller himself:
Related:
“I don’t get the paleo diet. Someone explain?” and “Mexico’s Diabetes Epidemic”
Updates:
JayMan: “Obesity & IQ”
Staffan’s Personality Blog: “The Ugly Truth About Obesity”
University of New Mexico statement: “We are investigating every aspect of this incident and will take appropriate action.”
Chateau Heartiste on how Miller can reframe criticism.
Occam's Razor 
As with any breach of PC, the media are blowing this out of proportion.
He has probably seen this first-hand; all the money wasted by both students and universities.
It’s funny that even a liberal like Bill Maher pointed out that Chris Christie would make a lousy president if he doesn’t have the willpower to lose weight without surgery.
Not that many people will read this website anyway, but I would HARDLY mention Satoshi Kanazawa, Geoffrey Miller, or Jason Richwine in the same sentence with, (let alone imply that they are in the same league as), Watson, Crick, or Galileo. Try again, my friend.
I never stated that the others should be placed in the same league as Galileo, Watson and Crick in terms of accomplishments but that they were all Galileo’d — Galileo by the actual Cathedral and the others by today’s Cathedral (aka political correctness).
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Can he point to any study showing what he said? I have a PhD and was overweight when I graduated. I’ve known many good scientists who were overweight. Lots of skinny, athletic people make terrible scientists. He probably wouldn’t say the same thing about someone who used drugs or alcohol, if they were skinny.
Even though some overweight people might have weaker work habits, obviously there are overweight smart people who can excel in academia. It was a flippant comment that is being taken way out of proportion.
I suspect the PC Cops have long been watching Miller and are just using these tweet as a way to try to destroy him.
The Leviathan has long been trying to suppress evolutionary psychology, Miller is just one of the more prominent scientists in that field. That makes him the ideal candidate to persecute.
It would be interesting to know if such a study exists. Intuitively, I feel like there are enough differences in not overeating and completing a thesis that I’m not sure there is a big correlation. Completing a thesis is the type of thing where you need the willpower to *do* something. Adhering to a diet requires willpower to *not do* something – eg. munch on candy and chips.
Personally, I’m someone who is a little overweight. But I’m also someone who works really hard academically and physically at the gym. I might be addicted to endorphins – which are produced by both exercise and food (and perhaps academic work?)
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People used to take amphetamines to produce dissertations. That could produce a false correlation between weight loss and productivity, having nothing to do with willpower, whatever that is.
What’s interesting in this discussion as I’ve followed it so far is that every criticism of his tweet takes it for granted that Miller is correct that carbs are fattening. Once upon a time that’s the claim that would have been disputed, while people would still have moaned that “we need to do something about the obesity epidemic”. It’s heartening that “we” no longer “need to do something”, we want fat people to know tolerance for a change, while we’re also more accepting of the more sensible theory of obesity than we used to be. Progress on both points.