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Re: The Bell Curve: A Symposium
Ralph L Holloway (rlh2@COLUMBIA.EDU)
Tue, 29 Nov 1994 10:48:05 -0500
Thanks for the reference. The anthropologist Pat Shipman is a woman, I
believe, whose work has been related mostly to the fossil hominid record.
On
Tue, 29 Nov 1994, John Hoopes wrote:
> For those interested in discussions of the book, John O'Sullivan and the
> gang at _National Review_ have assembled in their latest (12/5) issue a
> collection of 14 essays. Contributors include anthropologist Pat Shipman
> and psychologist Arthur Jensen, the latter of whom states that "Nowadays
> the factual basis of _The Bell Curve_ is scarcely debated by the experts,
> who regard it as mainstream knowledge." Shipman, to his credit, points
> out that "Herrnstein and Murray missed an opportunity to examine the
> potential effects of prejudice on IQ" and emphasizes that patterns of IQ
> scores in women, independent of race, reflect the effects of discrimination.
> The other essays are by: Michael Barone, Brigitte Berger, Eugene Genovese,
> Nathan Glazer, Loren Lomansky, Glenn Lowry, Richard John Neuhaus, Michael
> Novak, Daniel Seligman, Ernest van den Haag, James Q. Wilson, and Michael
> Young. The overall presentation, which appears among a disturbing array
> of anti-immigration advertisements, leans far to the right. However, it's
> a clear presentation of how literate conservatives regard the debate:
> "The central thesis of _The Bell Curve_ is simply stated: 'Intelligence,'
> vulgarly known as IQ, does exist. It can be measured. It is substantially
> inherited. It matters enormously. It varies among individuals. It also
> varies, on the average, among races.
> "This new is apparently astounding to liberal journalists (when they do not
> dismiss it as old news). But Herrnstein and Murray show that it is in
> fact the consensus among experts working in the field, away from political
> pressure."
> The problem of a perceived "consensus among experts" is what needs to be
> addressed most vigorously by the academic communit before political
> pressure turns this "consensus" into "truth."
>
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