Somewhat Silly Discussion

on several blogs today including Eschaton about the infamous piece of racist and classist tripe, The Bell Curve, written by Losing Ground author Charles Murray, and the Harvard so-called psychologist, the late Richard Herrnstein (1930-1994).

There are numerous articles as well as books refuting the nonsense that I.Q. is heritable and immutable (and therefore we shouldn't spend any public money at all on people who are inferior and will always be inferior). One such book with essays highly critical of the Murray/Herrnstein tome is titled The Bell Curve Debate, edited by Russell Jacoby and Naomi Glauberman. (There are also articles in it supportive of Murray and Herrnstein.) Of course, the main problem with "intelligence" is defining what it is. Since one man's intelligence is another's stupidity, it becomes as impossible to define as the notion of "merit." Because it is impossible to define objectively it is impossible to measure objectively. But Murray and Herrnstein don't give up trying. Since many of their readers never found out the dubious background of the authors and of the funding for their "project" and their reliance on researchers of equally dubious backgrounds, the book became an instant best-seller. It was also brilliantly promoted and indeed a triumph of salesmanship over scholarship.

Here's just a snip from an article included in the above-mentioned book, which originally appeared in the New Republic and written by Charles Lane called "Tainted Sources." The article is about the dynamic duo's reliance on the dubious Mankind Quarterly, published by Pearson's Institute for the Study of Man and in turn is financed by something called the Pioneer Fund:

"[The Pioneer Fund is] a New York foundation established in 1937 with the money of Wickliffe Draper. Draper, a textile magnate who was fascinated by eugenics, expressed early sympathy for Nazi Germany, and later advocated the "repatriation" of blacks to Africa. The fund's first president, Harry Laughlin, was a leader in the eugenicist movement to ban genetically inferior immigrants, and also an early admirer of the Nazi regime's eugenic policies.

"The Pioneer Fund's current president, Harry Weyher [now deceased], has denied any Nazi or white supremacist connections. But the fund's current agenda remains true to the purpose set forth in its charter of 1937: 'race betterment, with special reference to the people of the United States.' In a letter in 1989, the fund proposed that America abandon integration, on the grounds that 'raising the intelligence of blacks or others still remains beyond our capabilities.' The fund not only underwrites Mankind Quarterly and many other Pearson publications, but has also provided millions of dollars in research grants to sustain the 'scholars' who write for it and serve on its editorial board.

"Which brings us back to Murray and Herrnstein. They cite in their book no fewer than thirteen scholars who have benefited from Pioneer Fund grants in the last two decades--the grants total more than $4 million. Many of The Bell Curve's sources who worked for Mankind Quarterly were also granted Pioneer money..." (p. 127-128)

The link to Mankind Quarterly is here. The reader can check it himself or herself and decide whether or not is true scholarship. The Pioneer Fund is at this link. Note the mention at the latter link where the Fund says it didn't support Murray and Herrnstein but points out they were supported by the right-wing Bradley Foundation, which is just about as disreputable as the Pioneer Fund. However, it admits the authors quoted from researchers who were backed by the Fund. Which is just as bad if not worse as if the authors themselves were funded by the Fund and calls into question the credibility of the book.

With that kind of background, without even touching on the studies cited or the claims made by the authors, it is incredible anybody would even waste his or her time thinking Murray and Herrnstein were anything other than idealogues using pseudoscienfic trappings to justify a return to the social Darwinism and eugenics of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.