The Bell Curve

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2002-09-30 04:02pm

Does this study have any scientific value, or is it just racist garbage?

Post by **Kuja** » 2002-09-30 04:05pm

WTF?!?! Do you even know what the bell curve is?

It's a chart of all of class of students scores. Some are stupid, most are average, some are smart, so you end up with a bell-shaped line.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2002-09-30 04:09pm

I was referring to the Bell Curve study of racial IQs. It has been accused of relying on pseudoscience, and I was just wondering if anyone here might be able to clear up some of these issues for me.

Post by **Kuja** » 2002-09-30 04:12pm

ah. Thank you for clearing that up. Yes, it's bullshit. Total bullshit. Ignore it.

Shadow WarChief · Post by **Shadow WarChief** » 2002-09-30 04:36pm

got a link?

Datana · Post by **Datana** » 2002-09-30 05:40pm

No link, unfortunately. This was a published book, The Bell Curve, by Herrnstein and Murray (originally published in 1994, I think; for the most recent run, the paperback ISBN is 0684824299), so putting it online would be a violation of copyright. There was an article in Scientific American ("Behind the Bell Curve," Leon Kamin; Feb. 1995) that debunked most of it, and Stephen J. Gould's The Mismeasure of Man (ISBN 0684824299) spends a good bit of time attacking that book and its base premises as well.

The primary complaint given by both is that Herrnstein and Murray fail to separate corellation and causation in their analysis, ultimately leading to a mess and unreliable results. In addition, the effectiveness of the IQ tests used and economic and social background aren't considered (or are pushed to the back burner), making the analysis naturally favour an "elite" of affluent WASPs.

kojikun · Post by **kojikun** » 2002-09-30 07:14pm

If theres any correlation between ethnicity and how one does on tests its guaranteed to be caused by prejudice among those deciding who gets what schooling. If more white people get good education then black people, the fact that those black people get worse grades is because they dont have as good an education, not because they're idiots.