18

A PLACE IN THE SUN

THE ERROR IN THE BELL CURVE
IS TO ASSUME THAT GENETIC
As I follow the debate over the Italians, and 87% of the
Richard Herrnstein and VARIATION, WHICH CAN ACCOUNT Russians scored as "feeble-
Charles Murray's The Bell minded." (If you were a
Curve, I am struck yet again
by the fact that Americans
FOR D I F F E R E N C E S AMONG Russian Jew, you were dou-
bly dumb.) Goddard con-
have such trouble thinking
intelligently about intelli-
INDIVIDUALS WITHIN A GROUP, cluded that low intelligence
and poor character are inher-
gence. Partly this is because
the history of research on
IS ALSO THE R E A S O N FOR ited and that "undesirables"
should be kept out of the
IQ, heredity, and race is country or at least prevented
marked with such loath- DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GROUPS. from having children.
some prejudice. Early in this But partly we have trou-
century, H. H. Goddard, a By Carol Tavris ble talking about intelligence
leading educator, gave IQ because we think it is some-
tests to immigrants at Ellis how unjust to recognize that
Island. Most of these people knew little or no English, yet people differ in their intellectual abilities, just as they differ
no sooner did they get off the boat after an arduous jour- in the ability to play the violin or football. No one would
ney than they found themselves taking an IQ test. The dream of forcing Itzhak Perlman or Joe Montana to sup-
results: 83% of the Jews, 80% of the Hungarians, 79% of press their talents in the name of fairness to others less

Reprinted with permission from the author and the Los Angeles Times

62 SKEPTIC
 gifted. (Did any teacher tell young Itzhak that "it's not nice between pots is due entirely to their different soils and
to show off in front of children who can't play the violin as tomato-rearing experiences.
well as you do"?) But intellectually-gifted children are rou- It is with people as with tomatoes. Differences within
tinely denied opportunities to develop and expand their ethnic or national groups are partly genetic; but differences
abilities, confined to classes that bore them to death. between such groups can be entirely environmental. Blacks
If The Bell Curve were actually about the bell curve of and whites do not grow up, on the average, in the same
intelligence, it might well have served to generate sensible kind of pot. Black children often receive fewer nutrients—
discussion of this issue. There is no reason for anyone to literally, in terms of nutrition and prenatal care, and figu-
get hot under the collar about the evidence that some pro- ratively, in terms of education, encouragement by society,
portion of intelligence (at least the specific kind of intelli- and intellectual opportunities.
gence measured on IQ tests) has a genetic component. As Moreover, cultural groups differ in a zillion small ways V
all parents know and research that can affect performance
confirms, so do aspects of tern- on IQ tests. For example,
perament, such as shyness and anthropologist Shirley Brice
extroversion. In psychology, Heath studied a small African-
only a few diehard environ- American community in the
mentalists still believe that you "Asian parents have much higher south, and found that black
can take any infant and create standards for achievement than parents were less likely than
an Einstein, or turn a timid
toddler into an incipient Bette
American parents have. In the U.S., white parents to ask their
children "what," "where,"
Midler. The problem is that many white students who are good "when," and "who" ques-
now many people are riding in math and science are considered tions—the sorts of questions
the pendulum to its other found on standardized tests
extreme, arguing that environ- nerds and dweebs, and many black and in schoolbooks ("What's
mental factors account for students who excel academically are this story about?" "Who is
almost nothing in personality this?"). They preferred analogy
or ability. accused by peers of 'selling out' to questions ("What's that like?")
is Moreover, The Bell Curve white society. Asians and Americans and story-starter questions
is based on a fatal scientific ("Did you hear about ...?").
error that makes a mockery grow up in different pots." Teachers in the community
of the authors' claims to be used this information to mod-
impartial and unprejudiced. ify their teaching strategies.
The error is to assume that They encouraged their black
genetic variation, which can pupils to ask "school-type"
account for differences among individuals within a group, questions, but they also incorporated analogy and story-
is also the reason for differences between groups. This is starter questions into their lessons. Soon the black chil-
the mistake that every racist since Goddard has made, so dren, who had previously been uncomfortable and quiet,
it is important to understand it. became eager, confident participants.
Years ago, geneticist Richard Lewontin proposed the Similarly, if we want to explain why American children
following "thought experiment." Suppose you have a bag of all races perform so much worse in math and science than
of tomato seeds that vary genetically; all things being students in Japan and China, we must look to the "nutri-
equal, some seeds will produce tomatoes that are puny ents" that Asian children get. Their parents have much high-
and tasteless, and some will produce tomatoes that are er standards for achievement than American parents have;
plump and delicious. You take a random bunch of seeds in their parents expect them to study hard to succeed, whereas
your left hand and a random bunch in your right. Though American parents tend to think you either "have" math abil-
one seed differs genetically from another, there is no aver- ity or you don't; and Asian parents and peer groups support
age difference between the seeds in your left hand and academic achievement. In the U.S., many white students
those in your right. who are good in math and science are considered nerds and
Now you plant the left hand's seeds in Pot A. You have dweebs, and many black students who excel academically are
doctored the soil in Pot A with nitrogen and other nutri- accused by peers of "selling out" to white society. Asians and
ents. You feed this pot every day, sing arias to it from "La Americans grow up in different pots.
Traviata," and make sure it gets lots of sun. You protect it Robert Plomin, a leading behavior geneticist, has
from pests, and you put in a trellis so even the weakest little observed that "The wave of acceptance of genetic influence
tomatoes will have some support. Then you plant the seeds on behavior is growing into a tidal wave that threatens to
in your right hand in Pot B, which contains sandy soil lack- engulf the second message of this research: These same
ing nutrients. You don't feed these tomatoes, or water data provide the best available evidence for the importance
them, or sing to them; you don't give them enough sun; of environmental influences." An intelligent social policy
you let pests munch on them. on intelligence would not direct us to conclude that "It's all
When the tomatoes mature, they will vary in size within in the genes; there is nothing we can do." It would direct us
each pot, purely because of genetic differences. But there to make sure that all children grow up in the best possible
will also be an average difference between the tomatoes of pot, with room for the smartest and the slowest to find a
enriched Pot A and those of depleted Pot B. This difference place in the sun. D
Vol.3 No.3, 1995 63