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The Bell Curve

Too Smooth to be True

Central Michigan University

The best-selling book The Bell Curve has been presented to the American public as a balanced, scholarly review on the influence of IQ on the lives of individuals, in which some incidental comments on the relationship between IQ and race are included. However, a closer examination of the text, footnotes, and references contained in the book reveal a pattern of selectivity, bias, deceptive phrasing, and blatant distortion that leads me to conclude that The Bell Curve can be best described as a fraud. It is a popular book disguised as a scholarly one, a one-sided presentation disguised as a balanced review, and a book about race disguised as a book about IQ. Among its conspicuous omissions is any reference to a large body of cross-cultural research that has demonstrated the culture-bound nature of cognitive achievement.

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