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The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life
by
the late Richard J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray
It caused two reactions. The first was furious abuse. The second was a news black out. This is not quite censorship but it has the same effect. Their sin was to write about intelligence and race honestly. Pushing the multiculturalism line would have been all right. Telling the truth was not and is not. Their important point is that there are differences in the average intelligence of races which have important results. People in America have IQs averaging around 100. Blacks in America average 85; those in Africa achieve 70. Jews come in higher at 115. Look at the statistical connections between IQ and success to know why it matters. People in prison tend to low IQs. Those with real Nobel Prizes average high. This excludes the Nobel committee's sillier awards and political awards in literature and other areas where waffle predominates. If you get abused by the left you may well have something worth saying and worth hearing.
The Bell Curve Flattened
Was written by someone in the business who disagrees with CM & RH, telling us that Charles Murray is a cunning propagandist who massages his figures to get the result he wants. I am not convinced. Our critic tells us that CM & RH used a longitudinal study but in fact they used the huge bodies of result from American army testing before two world wars.The Bell Curve also tells us that men in the business are pretty much agreed on the evidence; it changes when the left talk to the press. I am disposed to believe The Bell Curve rather than the critic.
Errors & omissions,
broken links, cock ups, over-emphasis, malice [ real or imaginary ] or whatever;
if you find any I am open to comment.
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Updated on Wednesday, 30 March 2011 13:35:49