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Race, Intelligence and Bias in Academe
"""This book details evidence of widespread efforts to withhold from the public any clear understanding of the importance of heredity in shaping human abilities, particularly with regard to research into the genetic basis of human behavior, with particular reference to heredity and intelligence. Eminent academic authorities such as Arthur Jensen at Berkeley, Richard Herrnstein of Harvard, Thomas Bouchard of Minnesota, William Shockley of Stanford, Philippe Rushton of Western Ontario, Linda Gottfredson of Delaware, and numerous other scholars have been criticized by Marxist faculty members such as Leon Kamin and Richard Lewontin, pilloried in Leftist publications, described in less than favorable terms in the general media, and had their classes disrupted - even suffering physical assault in some cases - by Marxist student organizations. All this is amply documented, and the result is an up-to-date book which makes entertaining reading but provides solid, documented information on what is currently happening in major segments of the university arena. What makes all this important is that the role of heredity in shaping human abilities has now been demonstrated beyond reasonable doubt by research into behavioral genetics. Yet due to a concerted campaign by Leftists within the academic world and the prevailing political climate in the media, these facts are little known to the general public. For those interested this is also a useful source book. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)""
""...In brief, although scientific evidence for the powerful role of heredity in determining individual and group abilities is now conclusive, and well known to those who specialize in these areas, those who engage in such research, especially where this touches on intelligence, are still regularly abused and accused of being ""racists,"" ""nazis,"" and ""fascists."" One would have thought such Marxist techniques would have died with the Cold War, but they have not.
The ensuing chapters have been compiled for the purpose of placing on public record some of the realities of this continuing effort to deny the significance of heredity in determining human abilities by Leftist ideologists - well-supported by the media - and to suppress any research that would deny credence to the imaginative assumptions on which their social and political philosophy 1s based. Some effort has been made to organize the material in chronological order, although many of the events recounted occurred concurrently. However, Professor Hans J. Eysenck, the world's most frequently cited psychologist who has himself figured prominently in this struggle, has kindly permitted the author to publish the chapter entitled ""Science and Racism"" which was originally intended for inclusion in his autobiography, but which never appeared therein. This so cogently exemplifies the experiences common to scientists who have been targeted by the radical Left for their interest in human behavioral genetics, that we believe the reader will find that it makes an insightful introduction to the account of the bitter struggle for intellectual freedom that follows...."""
""...In brief, although scientific evidence for the powerful role of heredity in determining individual and group abilities is now conclusive, and well known to those who specialize in these areas, those who engage in such research, especially where this touches on intelligence, are still regularly abused and accused of being ""racists,"" ""nazis,"" and ""fascists."" One would have thought such Marxist techniques would have died with the Cold War, but they have not.
The ensuing chapters have been compiled for the purpose of placing on public record some of the realities of this continuing effort to deny the significance of heredity in determining human abilities by Leftist ideologists - well-supported by the media - and to suppress any research that would deny credence to the imaginative assumptions on which their social and political philosophy 1s based. Some effort has been made to organize the material in chronological order, although many of the events recounted occurred concurrently. However, Professor Hans J. Eysenck, the world's most frequently cited psychologist who has himself figured prominently in this struggle, has kindly permitted the author to publish the chapter entitled ""Science and Racism"" which was originally intended for inclusion in his autobiography, but which never appeared therein. This so cogently exemplifies the experiences common to scientists who have been targeted by the radical Left for their interest in human behavioral genetics, that we believe the reader will find that it makes an insightful introduction to the account of the bitter struggle for intellectual freedom that follows...."""
- GenresRacePsychology
336 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 1, 1991
53 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 31, 2021
9.5/10.
The essential problem for anyone looking into the history of a movement labeled to be on the Right-wing of the political spectrum is that most, if not all accounts of the movements published since the 60s mix 25% history with 75% commentary. These pieces become simple editorials for the Left to shriek, slander, and compare every person on the Right with the Worst of Them All. This is the case with most histories of intelligence research and eugenics, even though people from many races and different political beliefs research these questions (Michael Levin, Herrnstein, and Eysenck are Jewish; intelligence researchers range from moderately liberal to libertarian to racial nationalists).
Well, anyways, Roger Pearson has allowed interested readers to go around the above difficulty. His book is a history of the modern heresy of pronouncing group and class differences in IQ. But before that, he traces the history of the eugenics movement from its most eminent supporters (Galton and Karl Pearson [related to our author?]) to all of its former organizations taking the word "eugenics" out of their name. Then Pearson shows how our society is not free, because a free society is only free if voices are allowed to talk about the fringes of acceptable discourse. Arthur Jensen, JP Rushton, and William Shockley get the most extended treatment; I compare them to my most revered philosopher, Socrates: standing up for truth despite the social and political environment. Hans Eysenck writes a great memoir of his experiences at the beginning of the book, and the experiences of scholars who have been attacked (up to April 1991) are also given.
A major benefit you will gain from reading this work is to see how the far Left and the media assaults empirical data on intelligence and group differences. In short: they do not assault the data! They never even mention the data. They resort to tactics like: (a) saying the "scholarly consensus" totally denies such findings, and defines the scholarly consensus as rabid activists who work furiously to get their voices everywhere (Gould, Lewontin, etc.); (b) compare the scholar's findings to Hitler, or Gobineau, and say "all such myths have been refuted", in reference to the 'scholars' above; (c) appeal to the consequences of such research, saying that they, e.g., "undermine the quest for racial equality" (never undermines empirical findings); (d) slander scholars' research by distorting their viewpoint with deliberate exaggerations like "genetic determinism" or by saying that eugenics supporters want to strip all freedoms away from everyone; (e) make all the above lies and hysterical bouts so frequent and so dangerous that nearly all upcoming scholars are directed away from heterodox research, thereby attempting to destroy it all together through intimidation and plain ignorance.
Another thing you will learn from this book is that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Research into eugenics has been condemned by the press for at least 100 years, if not from its very beginning. Even Galton himself spent much time refuting press accounts of what he had to say. Furthermore, research into group differences in IQ and achievement has been viciously attacked (its scholars too!) for 50 years. Arthur Jensen was attacked so much that: (a) all his phone calls and mail had to go through his local police department; (b) he had to be taken in a getaway car to escape from far Left stormings of his speeches at least 3 times; and (c) the police would not allow his 11 year old daughter to walk 2 blocks to the bus for a whole year because of fears for her safety. One time the police drove Arthur Jensen and 15 psychology professors to a house after a Leftist stormed Jensen's planned conference. The Leftists found out about Jensen's new location and proceeded to storm that building, with the psychology faculty having to defend the house against the incoming horde until the police came.
JP Rushton was assaulted by a protestor and rushed to the local hospital. He was also nearly put in prison for 2 years in Canada for breaking thought crime laws, but he got away. Hans Eysenck and co. were spat upon by Marxist-Leninists. William Shockley, after facing tens to hundreds of press slanders, finally sued one newspaper for $1.5 million for labelled him a 'Fascist', among other completely false remarks. The mixed race jury found the newspaper guilty, and gave Shockley . . . $1. Yes, one dollar!
Pearson did not know if things would change in the future, but he had a portentous feeling that things would get worse. He saw that the newfound prominence and continued rise of minorities and government bureaucrats whose jobs rely on various affirmative action systems meant that ideology may be entrenched ever more and scholars increasingly persecuted if they attempt to bring their data to the public. For scholars have found some data which may be upsetting to those people, and which undermines most programs designed to eliminate different group outcomes in education and income. But, no matters how many deny the data, it continues to have an impact on reality. And the folly of ignoring it can be seen today. The biggest problems of the West have a lot to do with declining intelligence, rising deleterious mutations, and highly heritable traits like IQ and personality — but our policy makers continue to not even look at the data. If the ignorance continues, then perhaps the best we can hope for is a revival of civilization based on empirical fact after the inevitable collapse due to collective blindness.
The essential problem for anyone looking into the history of a movement labeled to be on the Right-wing of the political spectrum is that most, if not all accounts of the movements published since the 60s mix 25% history with 75% commentary. These pieces become simple editorials for the Left to shriek, slander, and compare every person on the Right with the Worst of Them All. This is the case with most histories of intelligence research and eugenics, even though people from many races and different political beliefs research these questions (Michael Levin, Herrnstein, and Eysenck are Jewish; intelligence researchers range from moderately liberal to libertarian to racial nationalists).
Well, anyways, Roger Pearson has allowed interested readers to go around the above difficulty. His book is a history of the modern heresy of pronouncing group and class differences in IQ. But before that, he traces the history of the eugenics movement from its most eminent supporters (Galton and Karl Pearson [related to our author?]) to all of its former organizations taking the word "eugenics" out of their name. Then Pearson shows how our society is not free, because a free society is only free if voices are allowed to talk about the fringes of acceptable discourse. Arthur Jensen, JP Rushton, and William Shockley get the most extended treatment; I compare them to my most revered philosopher, Socrates: standing up for truth despite the social and political environment. Hans Eysenck writes a great memoir of his experiences at the beginning of the book, and the experiences of scholars who have been attacked (up to April 1991) are also given.
A major benefit you will gain from reading this work is to see how the far Left and the media assaults empirical data on intelligence and group differences. In short: they do not assault the data! They never even mention the data. They resort to tactics like: (a) saying the "scholarly consensus" totally denies such findings, and defines the scholarly consensus as rabid activists who work furiously to get their voices everywhere (Gould, Lewontin, etc.); (b) compare the scholar's findings to Hitler, or Gobineau, and say "all such myths have been refuted", in reference to the 'scholars' above; (c) appeal to the consequences of such research, saying that they, e.g., "undermine the quest for racial equality" (never undermines empirical findings); (d) slander scholars' research by distorting their viewpoint with deliberate exaggerations like "genetic determinism" or by saying that eugenics supporters want to strip all freedoms away from everyone; (e) make all the above lies and hysterical bouts so frequent and so dangerous that nearly all upcoming scholars are directed away from heterodox research, thereby attempting to destroy it all together through intimidation and plain ignorance.
Another thing you will learn from this book is that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Research into eugenics has been condemned by the press for at least 100 years, if not from its very beginning. Even Galton himself spent much time refuting press accounts of what he had to say. Furthermore, research into group differences in IQ and achievement has been viciously attacked (its scholars too!) for 50 years. Arthur Jensen was attacked so much that: (a) all his phone calls and mail had to go through his local police department; (b) he had to be taken in a getaway car to escape from far Left stormings of his speeches at least 3 times; and (c) the police would not allow his 11 year old daughter to walk 2 blocks to the bus for a whole year because of fears for her safety. One time the police drove Arthur Jensen and 15 psychology professors to a house after a Leftist stormed Jensen's planned conference. The Leftists found out about Jensen's new location and proceeded to storm that building, with the psychology faculty having to defend the house against the incoming horde until the police came.
JP Rushton was assaulted by a protestor and rushed to the local hospital. He was also nearly put in prison for 2 years in Canada for breaking thought crime laws, but he got away. Hans Eysenck and co. were spat upon by Marxist-Leninists. William Shockley, after facing tens to hundreds of press slanders, finally sued one newspaper for $1.5 million for labelled him a 'Fascist', among other completely false remarks. The mixed race jury found the newspaper guilty, and gave Shockley . . . $1. Yes, one dollar!
Pearson did not know if things would change in the future, but he had a portentous feeling that things would get worse. He saw that the newfound prominence and continued rise of minorities and government bureaucrats whose jobs rely on various affirmative action systems meant that ideology may be entrenched ever more and scholars increasingly persecuted if they attempt to bring their data to the public. For scholars have found some data which may be upsetting to those people, and which undermines most programs designed to eliminate different group outcomes in education and income. But, no matters how many deny the data, it continues to have an impact on reality. And the folly of ignoring it can be seen today. The biggest problems of the West have a lot to do with declining intelligence, rising deleterious mutations, and highly heritable traits like IQ and personality — but our policy makers continue to not even look at the data. If the ignorance continues, then perhaps the best we can hope for is a revival of civilization based on empirical fact after the inevitable collapse due to collective blindness.
August 12, 2019
Definitely worth reading for people interested in the history of IQ and behavioral genetics.
December 18, 2009
Excellent book. The anecdotes of the absurdity of how leftists foolishly objected to research on the interplay of intelligence and race. The story of the math undergrad objecting to IQ on the basis of what the IQ of an infinitely wise and old deity is classic.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews