Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life (A Free Press Paperbacks Book) |...

Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life (A Free Press Paperbacks Book) | Richard J. Herrnstein, Charles Murray | General Intelligence Isn't all there is, but it's definately important

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Bell Curve: Intell...

	Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life (A Free Press Paperbacks Book) Richard J. Herrnstein, Charles Murray Free Press, 1996 - 912 pages average customer review:based on 193 reviews view larger image
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The truth is hard to bear

This class="textlinks">book has raised enormous controversy. One reason it does is that its findings violate one of the premises of the American democratic creed. i.e. that it is only social discrimination which prevents all individuals from achieving high levels of success in life.. A corollary of this is that through social programs each and every ethnic and religious group can be made equal to others in achievements.
Herrnstein and Murray making detailed studies of Intelligence come up with a different in a sense more painful truth.
There are genetic differences in ability and intelligence between various groups which can be clearly measured , and these have profound influence on the subsequent achievement levels of the individuals who belong to these groups. Moreover in the United States today there is an increasing stratification whereby the more intelligent associate more with, work more with , marry more with the more intelligent. The groups of lower intelligence suffer in many ways including in terms of criminal behavior.
Herrnstein and Murray point to the dangers of a two tier society , but inherent in their data is a sense of its inevitability.
This book is impressively organized, argued and written.
Its conclusions will not make a lot of people happy, but it seems that they are largely correct.
So far as I know no major research has emerged which refutes them.

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General Intelligence Isn't all there is, but it's definately important

THE class="textlinks">BELL CURVE is about the importance of general intelligence, sometimes derided as "book smarts," to real life experience. The idea of a general intelligence factor that is variable, substantially heritable, and likely has a heritable variability between ethnic groups is heresy to both Left and Right.

The Left dislikes the ideas in THE BELL CURVE for obvious reasons--if general intelligence is real and important, and variable between ethnic groups (and its components variable between the sexes), much of the moral element of left-wing and social constructionist ideology gets exposed for what it is: moralistic B.S. Open borders, multiculturalism, radical feminism, and constant, radical increases on health care and education spending go out the window. This is not to say that THE BELL CURVE automatically means closed borders, much less white, Ashkenazi Jewish, or East Asian supremacy, but it does mean that expecting (for example) that the average Mexican peasant (or even the average person of European or East Asian descent) will be able to get a degree at an elite univeristy in the natural sciences, or even become an effective Assistant Manager at Wal-Mart or Target, is ridiculous.

Many people on the Right will also have a big beef with THE BELL CURVE. If general intelligence, and other forms of inherited ability (not discussed in THE BELL CURVE itself, but certainly related and relevant), are major factors in life success, it questions much of "rugged individualist" right-wing ideology. Success isn't necessarily due to "free will," "just working hard" (though working hard certainly helps), or "pulling oneself up by his bootstraps," and it's certainly not related to staying away from the "evils" or sex, drugs, and rock and roll, let alone other religious fundie demons like junk food and violent or war-based video games and "sleazy" TV shows ranging from "The Simpsons" and "King of the Hill" to "South Park."

To sum it up, what psychologists call intelligence or g is real. It is substantially heritable, and it varies between ethnic groups. The sub-components of g (e.g. Math, Verbal, and Spacial Intelligence) vary between the sexes. While "g" is certainly not all there is to life, heritable factors, as well as environmental factors (though not necessarily obvious ones), are very important. To ignore the heritability and importance of general intelligence, or other forms of intelligence that are harder to measure, is to waste your and others' resources.

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Summary at Wikipedia

Wikipedia has condensed the ideas of this class="textlinks">book, the arguments pro and con.

reviews: 1, 2, 3, page 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

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