Race Controversy in the Bell Curve

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2MtavwbxZY

Charles Murray begins the conversation describing the book as a Rorschach test (a psychological test in which subjects’ perceptions of inkblots are recorded and then analyzed using psychological interpretation, complex algorithms, or both.). He talks about how the book affected people from all races, especially with Chapter 13- Ethnic Differences and Cognitive Ability. The very first argument put forth was the question stated in the book, whether Jews/Asians were the smartest people. It was said that Jews, as a group are smarter, based on both theories and test results (further used for calculating the bell curve). While theories like “Jews have been viciously persecuted over centuries, they needed to be smart to survive” support their argument, their average intelligence (stated in the video as “There is somewhere between 7 and 15 IQ points separating the means of Ashkenazi Jews and non-Jews”) as a group of people takes the trophy. The central line goes over the curve looks far ahead and bigger than other races. There was also a comparison with Asians, wherein Murray said “If I were forced to make a guess, I’d say Asians have an overall IQ higher by 3 points. Difference between Asians and non-Asians is fascinating. It is not just the mean, it’s the profile.” The two kinds of IQ tests were discussed, stating that performance IQ wise East Asians have higher visual spatial skills- that works well for sciences, engineering and the ability to manipulate in 3d; and this could be proven true for Japan, Southeast Asians from Korea, Singapore, China, Japan, and Asians who moved to the US. It looked pretty clear to me that the authors knew what they were talking about, everything was factually based and interpretations based on the same facts. I tried looking into the situation from the reader’s perspective. At once, if it is felt that their community/race/country is being targeted and generalized to a certain ability and capability, there is bound to be conflicting thoughts and hence, the reactions on the magazines and raised questions about Murrays study. But it is equally necessary to note that the tests taken and the data obtained through the test was the same for all, unbiased and the observations were put forth for all to look into. Murray also talked about the bell curve for the black people being narrow but also tens of thousands of blacks topping the charts. The observations displayed were based on the data, representing (or targeting, apparently) groups of people and their average intelligence, and not individuals. “A lot of the peoples’ fears out there about what this book means are simply not true.” Personally I feel that a lot of my understanding gets affected by this, while numbers here hold truth, people aren’t ready to accept it as it is, as facts proving the theory just because they want to believe things differently. The intent of the writer’s looked like they wanted to present their ‘close to scientific’ findings to the world, in the least controversial and transparent way possible to make the world aware; but the reactions went in another direction. An ideal situation in this case would be on that is away from misunderstanding and misinterpretation. While the data was presented almost factually, the reader’s focus was drawn elsewhere. They believed that their communities were being targeted and didn’t seem to look into the bigger picture of basis for the argument in the first place. Statistics and numbers hold a lot of power to prove discoveries altogether. There needs to be a better sense of interpretation and understanding of what is being said, before concluding otherwise.

(Say it With Charts Studio, 2017-18)