Paste magazine (?) has a piece which asks “Is The Bell Curve Scientific Racism?”:
Scientific American revisited The Bell Curve last month in the wake of Murray’s recent return to the spotlight. Although data shows an average lower IQ in Black people than white people, data analyst Eric Siegel says that Murray and Herrnstein never explained why they researched IQ differences among different ethnicities. “By never spelling out a reason for reporting on these differences in the first place,” he writes, “the authors transmit an unspoken yet unequivocal conclusion: Race is a helpful indicator as to whether a person is likely to hold certain capabilities. Even if we assume the presented data trends are sound, the book leaves the reader on his or her own to deduce how to best put these insights to use. The net effect is to tacitly condone the prejudgment of individuals based on race.” Seigel also echoes Kamin’s belief that Murray and Herrnstein had a political agenda since the last chapter of the book suggests political policies that might help society progress in light of their findings, including “simpler tax codes, decreasing government benefits that could incentivize childbearing among the low-income, and increasing competency-based immigration screening.”
It yet another astonishing display of a Leftist being “critically-reasoning-challenged” when it comes to the current science of genetics and IQ:
As far as whether or not intelligence is hereditary … well, it’s complicated. According to Robert Plomin, a deputy director of the MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Center at King’s College London, there are genetic differences that affect differences in intelligence test results, but “we all share 99.5 percent of our three billion DNA base pairs, so only 15 million DNA differences separate us genetically.” Also, according to Plomin, genes only tell half of the story while environmental factors tell the other half. In other words, the claim that IQ differences between different ethnicities is mainly because of genetics with no outside factors is bunk.
This pour soul just can’t comprehend the concept that an awful lot of significant phenotypic differences ensue from a mere ½ of 1 percent of DNA differences:
The Bell Curve is just one example of science’s darkest chapters: scientific racism It’s been around since the beginning of time, but became especially prominent with the advent of Social Darwinism (not to be confused with Darwin’s original theory of evolution), which basically said White Europeans were more “evolved” than other races and therefore superior. It’s no wonder Hitler was a big fan of Social Darwinism.
The writer of this piece?
Trav Mamone is a queer trans blogger who write about the intersections of social justice and secular humanism at Bi Any Means. They also host the Bi Any Means Podcast and co-host the Biskeptical Podcast.
Enuff said.
