Human Diversity: Gender, Race, Class, and Genes
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- Author：Charles Murray
- ISBN：1538744015
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Summary
All people are equal but， as Human Diversity explores， all groups of people are not the same -- a fascinating investigation of the genetics and neuroscience of human differences。
The thesis of Human Diversity is that advances in genetics and neuroscience are overthrowing an intellectual orthodoxy that has ruled the social sciences for decades。 The core of the orthodoxy consists of three dogmas:
- Gender is a social construct。
- Race is a social construct。
- Class is a function of privilege。
The problem is that all three dogmas are half-truths。 They have stifled progress in understanding the rich texture that biology adds to our understanding of the social， political， and economic worlds we live in。
It is not a story to be feared。 "There are no monsters in the closet，" Murray writes， "no dread doors we must fear opening。" But it is a story that needs telling。 Human Diversity does so without sensationalism， drawing on the most authoritative scientific findings， celebrating both our many differences and our common humanity。
The thesis of Human Diversity is that advances in genetics and neuroscience are overthrowing an intellectual orthodoxy that has ruled the social sciences for decades。 The core of the orthodoxy consists of three dogmas:
- Gender is a social construct。
- Race is a social construct。
- Class is a function of privilege。
The problem is that all three dogmas are half-truths。 They have stifled progress in understanding the rich texture that biology adds to our understanding of the social， political， and economic worlds we live in。
It is not a story to be feared。 "There are no monsters in the closet，" Murray writes， "no dread doors we must fear opening。" But it is a story that needs telling。 Human Diversity does so without sensationalism， drawing on the most authoritative scientific findings， celebrating both our many differences and our common humanity。
Reviews
Leib Mitchell
，
Chipping away at the OrthodoxyReviewed in the United States on August 8， 2020For whom is the book written？°°°It will be the easiest read for people who already know some genetics and who have racial realist/empiricist tendencies。 （The Present Reviewer。） For those readers， this will be an updating of the latest genetic research and references to many things all in one single place。°°°It will be a bit harder for people who don't have much of an understanding of genetics， but who have an open mind。 Chipping away at the OrthodoxyReviewed in the United States on August 8， 2020For whom is the book written？°°°It will be the easiest read for people who already know some genetics and who have racial realist/empiricist tendencies。 （The Present Reviewer。） For those readers， this will be an updating of the latest genetic research and references to many things all in one single place。°°°It will be a bit harder for people who don't have much of an understanding of genetics， but who have an open mind。°°°It will be absolutely psychologically shattering for people who believe that ethnicity is "socially constructed" to find that there is *actual data* that says otherwise。Murray has a great gift as a writer， and even though very little of this is original research of his own。。。 He nonetheless serves a very useful function in putting large amounts of it into a form that most people can understand。 （People like Thomas Sowell have also made a very respectable and successful careers publishing large numbers of books that do just that。）This book deals with 10 questions that are controversial （in the popular imagination）， but are well understood by specialists in the fields。 （The book has 178 pages of notes and 50 pages of appendices。）In a way， this book serves also as a reference to the relevant original papers and meta-analyses of the topics at hand。The 10 propositions:1。 Sex differences in personality are consistent worldwide and tend to widen in more gender-egalitarian cultures。2。 On average， females worldwide have advantages in verbal ability and social cognition while males have advantages in visuospatial abilities and the extremes of mathematical ability。3。 On average， women worldwide are more attracted to vocations centered on people and men to vocations centered on things。4。 Many sex differences in the brain are coordinate with sex differences in personality， abilities， and social behavior5。 Human populations are genetically distinctive in ways that correspond to self-identified race and ethnicity。6。 Evolutionary selection pressure since humans left Africa has been extensive and mostly local。7。 Continental population differences in variants associated with personality， abilities， and social behavior are common。8。 The shared environment usually plays a minor role in explaining personality， abilities， and social behavior。9。 Class structure is importantly based on differences in abilities that have a substantial genetic component。10。 Outside interventions are inherently constrained in the effects they can have on personality， abilities， and social behavior。The author is very clear in his parsimoniously written intro for whom the book is and for whom it is not。It is been written before that: "The conservatism of a religion - its orthodoxy - is the inert coagulum of a once highly reactive sap。"And this is true for the various Ethnic Studies that crystallized out of movements （First / Second-wave Feminism， Civil Rights Movement， etc）: when they first came about， they were meant to solve things that were problems。 But， as they became the status quo they have become EXTREMELY resistant to any type of challenge on their monopoly。They are now， in all significant senses of the word， religions。In the same way that the Reformation came about to challenge the dominant orthodoxy of the Catholic Church。。。。 It appears that the scientific method is slowly chipping away at the orthodoxy of the Ethnic Studies Thought Police。 （This book was published on the 12 Book label， though it was good enough to be published on Basic Books。）With respect to other books that have been written about this topic， I would say that:1。 Stephen Jay Gould's "The Mismeasure of Man" is a book was written in the 80s and is light years away from the data that exist today。 It's also an example of something extremely easily debunked with what we now know--after the solution of the human genome。 （Maybe you can read it as a good example of poor reasoning or the ability of an author to expatiate for several hundred pages about what ultimately turns into nothing。 Of course: You could also read Karl Marx's Das Kapital for the same purpose。）2。 There is another book called "The 10，000 Year Explosion" （Cochran and Harpending） that is well written， but it feels like a subset of what is in Murray's book。 And that is because 10 years have passed between the publication of the two books， and *even more* updating has been done because of new research / discoveries in the field。 （5 years is a generation in Molecular Genetics research。）3。 Murray unwittingly makes the case for hybrid vigor。 （It was made in another book by Alon Ziv。 "Breeding Between The Lines。"） What I come away with is that: the mistakes in people's DNA are so close together within a racial grouping， that it only seems logical to find partners from distant genetic populations。4。 "The Collapse of Complex Civilizations" （Joseph Tainter） chose that civilizations that reach a point at which a problem is too complex for them to solve will break back down into smaller units because there are no further gains in efficiency from the larger unit aggregation。I honestly believe that these issues that Murray is raising are going to prove too complex for Western countries to handle。 （Europe has just recently infected itself with many millions of Arab-Muslims based on tabula rasa notions。 The United States is unable to craft a coherent immigration policy because they assume that all immigrants are exactly the same。）The single best part of the book is Chapter 15。 （"Reflections and Speculations"）The author is very cautious， but he makes several excellent / quotable points:°°°"Whereas the French First republic reified the belief that humans could be molded into any shape that rational planners might devise， the American Constitution reified the belief that human nature must shape the structure of government， not the other way around。"°°°The Behaviorism of BF Skinner was the logical end of this notion of tabula rasa。 And it was en vogue for a quite a while--to great damaging effect。°°°"The belief in open-ended potential for changing people through the right policies is inherently liberal。" （Left wing）。Murray is optimistic that actual Molecular Genetic data /Evolutionary Psychology will be enough to undo this notion that human beings are a blank slate。 But， Lindy's effect says that length of past existence is the best tool to predict future existence。And in that case， I not as optimistic as he is:1。 The divide between Confucianists and Legalists （which roughly parallel the divide between tabula rasa-ists and evolutionary psychologists） has been going strong for about 2，300 years and shows no signs of resolving in favor of one side or another。Why should the next 2，300 years be any different？Even if this has been going on in the United States only for 100 years， why should we expect the next 100 years to be any different？2。 Human beings as tabula rasa has the allegiance of Men of Words。 （If mankind is not perfectible， then there are no doctrines for them to push。） And in that case， it could continue on for a very long time--impervious to any evidence。 （Too many examples that are too obvious to even need elaboration。）3。 The "people who sit at the apex of the nation's politics， economics， and culture" （p。316） are definitely responsible for a lot of the willful blindness and inept policy responses that come with assuming that all human beings are exactly equal （and any deviation from this exact equality is， by definition， "racism"）。 But， not is it the first time that some country somewhere fell apart because the leadership was the very last people to know what was happening on the ground。 （"Knowledge and Decisions" was a book that was published 40 years ago that was a several hundred page meditation on the nature of feedback mechanisms。 Tone deaf governments were a significant part of that book。）I will leave the reader with （what I believe to be） the single best quote of the book。 （p。 271）。 "Stop trying to predict the future， Wilson。 You're having a hard enough time predicting the past。"Verdict: Strongly recommended at the new price。Essential at the second-hand price。 。。。more
Elizabeth
，
I've never read a Charles Murray book before， but felt compelled to pick up Human Diversity because I do follow with great interest the recent research into ancient and archaic human DNA。 I found David Reich's Who We Are and How We Got Here: Ancient DNA and the New Science of the Human Past a fascinating read， but I was a bit concerned about how others might use his work to focus on division between human groups。 And that's basically Murray's thesis here in a nutshell -- human populations （male I've never read a Charles Murray book before， but felt compelled to pick up Human Diversity because I do follow with great interest the recent research into ancient and archaic human DNA。 I found David Reich's Who We Are and How We Got Here: Ancient DNA and the New Science of the Human Past a fascinating read， but I was a bit concerned about how others might use his work to focus on division between human groups。 And that's basically Murray's thesis here in a nutshell -- human populations （male vs。 female， Africans vs。 Asians， etc。） are meaningfully different。 Murray fails， however， because while I don't know enough to quibble on the science he presents as to how different populations actually are， he left me completely unconvinced that these differences are significant for purposes of crafting social policy。Murray builds his book on what strike me as two shockingly naive assumptions。 The first is that racism and sexism no longer play a significant role in society， meaning that any remaining differences between men/women and different races must be genetic。 （Murray attempts to eschew the word "race，" but his avoidance isn't fooling anyone。） This is completely bonkers。 Yes， we have made great strides towards legal and social equality in the past few decades， but we still have plenty of work to do。 As an example of hidden legal inequality， one need only look at something like the mortgage interest tax deduction， which greatly benefits wealthy homeowners over renters。 And as minorities are more likely to be renters and whites more likely to be homeowners， it contributes to continuing wealth disparities。His second assumption is that focusing on population differences somehow won't be used for nefarious means。 Several times， he writes something along the lines of， "There's nothing to fear here。 I'm not racist/misogynist！ Just curious！" This is such bullshit。 We have an ample， detailed， and ongoing record of all the ways human groups try to oppress each other。 And I'll be generous here -- no， it's not just white people。 It's everyone， worldwide。 Sadly， I look at how populations such as the Uighyurs， Palestinians， and Rohingya are treated and must conclude that humans are still quite likely to treat "others" poorly based on perceived differences。 In such a world， I consider books like this unhelpful at best， and dangerous at worst。Further， Murray is very unclear about what he thinks this meaningful difference among populations means for society。 The clearest points I could discern him making is that people were mean to Larry Summers and we shouldn't spend money on social programs？ But I'm pretty sure Larry Summers is doing just fine。 And as for social programs that help poor minorities that have historically been oppressed， even Murray himself admits that programs like Headstart provide a tangible good in that the provide a safe place for kids， and even if there were no long term academic gains， this alone would be enough to justify them。 Oh， he talks about polygenic scores and how they may be useful， but outside the context of identifying potential genetic health risks， I didn't see anything here they would be really good for。 Especially when it comes to things like intelligence and what profession an individual should choose， I suspect "chaos theory" is going to limit how useful polygenic scores are going to be。 Yes， theoretically we should be able to predict intelligence and professional success with genes， but the systems are so complicated， I suspect that the outcomes will still retain a strong element of unpredictability。 Murray is also sometimes eyerollingly oblivious as to how insincere or obtuse he sounds。 One example that stuck with me is when he mentioned that Watson and Crick discovered the double helix nature of DNA， while only mentioning the "important contributions" of Rosalind Franklin in an endnote。 An ENDNOTE。 We know so much nowadays about how important Franklin's work was， and Murray， while paying her "important contributions" lip service， still sticks her in an ENDNOTE。 Literally， not even a footnote to the two men。 It's baffling。But the funniest was when he tries to argue that wealth doesn't play a meaningful role in SES。 Here's an excerpt from the paragraph itself， so you can laugh along with me:"Can you use your money to make your children professionally more successful than they would otherwise have been？ It depends on the profession。 [。。。] Parental wealth and influence can help a child get the appropriate degree and help obtain the first job。 It's not so easy for parental influence to get the child promoted。 The more competitive the industry and the more cognitively demanding the job， the less influence family wealth has。"In other words， sure， your parents might enroll you in Dalton and gain you legacy admission to Harvard -- they may even have their friend get you in as a junior associate at McKinsey！ But pooh， you'll never make partner。 And I'm sure that partner position will go to a person who did not have those advantages growing up。 Someone who grew up in the inner city and went to a state college。 Right， right？This is not how the world works。 We all know getting your foot in the door of that first job is the bulk of the battle。 And also， not many people overall get these types of elite jobs。 The corollary of Murray's argument would be， that yes， parental influence can help a child in less cognitively demanding jobs。 But since most jobs ARE less cognitively demanding， his argument that parental wealth doesn't have much influence on socio-economic success completely falls apart。In conclusion， I will say that I had started this book thinking I was likely going to find it a 2-star read。 I admit to being skeptical about Murray's approach from the get-go， but having heard so much about him， I did expect that the book would at least be well-written and entertaining。 I honestly expected writing that sounded good， and thought I would give him an extra star based on that alone。 But it's really not that compelling a read。 Murray himself says he thinks it will be boring in many parts。 And he was right。 It was boring， particularly whenever he talked about statistics。 I skimmed most of those sections -- partly because I knew much of it already， but also because he hadn't convinced me to care about it。 As I said， he never convinced me that these differences he identified were meaningful in a way that mattered for how society functions， and as he didn't convince me of that， I didn't really care whether they were "statistically" meaningful or not。I have always vaguely thought that I would read The Bell Curve one day， if only because of the controversy。 But after finding Human Diversity so underwhelming， I no longer see the point in it， and suspect this will be my first and last Murray。 。。。more
Steven Gonzalez
，
While the conclusions he reached should be clear to everyone with a background in biology， the experiments and hard statistics he presented were fascinating。 This is a good book to read if you don't have much of a biology background or as a reference book for various studies and statistics。 While the conclusions he reached should be clear to everyone with a background in biology， the experiments and hard statistics he presented were fascinating。 This is a good book to read if you don't have much of a biology background or as a reference book for various studies and statistics。 。。。more
Charlie Wallner
，
Although this book is incredibly dense with information and complex statistics， I found it highly enjoyable and it’s matter of fact tone refreshing。 The author is a polarizing figure， and though he may not completely elude controversy with this book， his claims are meticulously supported with relevant evidence。 This book took me a while to get through because some parts are very technical and I had to familiarize myself with some of the scientific nomenclature。 Nonetheless， I would recommend thi Although this book is incredibly dense with information and complex statistics， I found it highly enjoyable and it’s matter of fact tone refreshing。 The author is a polarizing figure， and though he may not completely elude controversy with this book， his claims are meticulously supported with relevant evidence。 This book took me a while to get through because some parts are very technical and I had to familiarize myself with some of the scientific nomenclature。 Nonetheless， I would recommend this book to anyone with an open mind and I hope you gain as much insight as I did！ 。。。more
Michal Malatinský
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Má svoje miesto v spoločenských vedách aj biológia alebo je za všetkými medziľudskými rozdielmi socializácia， teda kultúra？ Otázka príroda vs。 výchova （nature vs。 nurture）， teda či je ľudské správanie determinované prostredím a/alebo génmi， je stále aktuálna a prestupuje okrem sféry spoločenských vied aj politiku。 Jej citlivosť významne narastá， keď našu pozornosť z rozdielov medzi jednotlivcami prenesieme k rozdielom medzi skupinami。 Líšia sa pohlavia， rasy či spoločenské triedy？ A ak áno， preč Má svoje miesto v spoločenských vedách aj biológia alebo je za všetkými medziľudskými rozdielmi socializácia， teda kultúra？ Otázka príroda vs。 výchova （nature vs。 nurture）， teda či je ľudské správanie determinované prostredím a/alebo génmi， je stále aktuálna a prestupuje okrem sféry spoločenských vied aj politiku。 Jej citlivosť významne narastá， keď našu pozornosť z rozdielov medzi jednotlivcami prenesieme k rozdielom medzi skupinami。 Líšia sa pohlavia， rasy či spoločenské triedy？ A ak áno， prečo？Hlavne o tom je najnovšia kniha Charlesa Murraya Ľudská rôznorodosť: biológia pohlavia， rasy a triedy （Human Diversity: The Biology of Gender， Race， and Class）。 Autor je americký sociológ， politológ a libertariánsky intelektuál， ktorý má svoje popredné miesto v americkom spoločenskom diskurze už dlhé desaťročia。 Napriek jeho akademickému záberu a prístupu nepôsobí v univerzitnom prostredí， ale v konzervatívnom think tanku American Enterprise Institute， kde medzi jeho kolegov patrí napríklad aj Slovák Dalibor Roháč。Murray sa už v úvode knihy negatívne vymedzuje voči tzv。 ortodoxii， ktorá podľa neho panuje v spoločenských vedách a podľa ktorej sa rôzne ľudské skupiny medzi sebou mimo fyziológie prakticky nelíšia a ak áno， ide o dôsledok spoločenských， kultúrnych alebo politických podmienok či opatrení， a teda sú riešiteľné zavedením správnych politických opatrení。Takýto pohľad je podľa neho neudržateľný a v rozpore s vedeckým poznaním。 Biologické faktory patria medzi príčiny niektorých medziskupinových rozdielov。 Murray postuluje desať tvrdení， ktoré sú podľa neho vedecky preukázané mnohokrát úspešne replikovanými výskumami a ktoré sa dotýkajú prevažne kognitívnych schopností。 Ich dôsledná prezentácia， ako aj sumarizácia súvisiacich vedeckých výskumov predstavuje väčšinu knihy。 Tieto tvrdenia sa， v súlade s názvom knihy， dotýkajú troch základných okruhov: pohlavia， rasy a spoločenskej triedy。Zvyšok mojej recenzie si možno prečítať tu: https://ippr。sk/recenzie/228-murray-l。。。 。。。more
Nadya
，
Fascinating insight into differences between men and women， among populations， and what goes into socioeconomic status。Murray is very respectful of the scientific method， statistic significance， and reproducibility in studies。
R。S。 Toss
，
I'm reading I'm reading 。。。more
Mikal
，
The author is extremely （read: unnecessarily） thorough when it comes to presenting his references and discussing the strengths/weaknesses in data collection and analysis methods used in each reference。 The language is very dry and full of technical terms which makes it hard to stay interested - it feels like reading a scientific journal。 He claims early on that he wants to target casual readers but I certainly found this to be an unnecessarily difficult read， despite this being an interesting to The author is extremely （read: unnecessarily） thorough when it comes to presenting his references and discussing the strengths/weaknesses in data collection and analysis methods used in each reference。 The language is very dry and full of technical terms which makes it hard to stay interested - it feels like reading a scientific journal。 He claims early on that he wants to target casual readers but I certainly found this to be an unnecessarily difficult read， despite this being an interesting topic。Nonetheless， the topics reviewed in the book are interesting。 Although a lot of it is common sense， I did also learn quite a lot。 。。。more
Gavin Long
，
This is an extremely interesting and immensely relevant work。 Thoroughly enjoyed it。
Larry
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Did not finish。 Interesting stuff but more text book than I was looking for。
Ant
，
I don’t think you have to agree with or be persuaded by all of the content of a book to learn from it， or even to understand a new perspective on a topic。 I found the information in this book to be well structured。 The author presented his case， evidenced it and then referenced additional material for the reader to learn more。 This is quite a dense book and I think it is deserving of the additional reading and research。 The author freely states that in many cases the book conveys the current sta I don’t think you have to agree with or be persuaded by all of the content of a book to learn from it， or even to understand a new perspective on a topic。 I found the information in this book to be well structured。 The author presented his case， evidenced it and then referenced additional material for the reader to learn more。 This is quite a dense book and I think it is deserving of the additional reading and research。 The author freely states that in many cases the book conveys the current state of the research not settled facts。Overall， I found the book to lay out the author’s case in very clear terms and that it dealt with the evidence in a very thoughtful manner。 。。。more
Lara Green
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I read this as an audio book which may have shaped my view， given many charts and graphs were rdmmoved。 However， i felt it both had an arigant tone and contained huge announts of data。
Ken Mattes
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Definitely worth the listen/read。A wonderfully written book， with numerous references to literature studies and data to support conclusions and perspectives。Although biased in parts， the author identifies his bias and then utilizes his grasp of the data to present his interpretations。The book is structured around 10 propositions， which I briefly summarize below。1。 Sex differences in personality are universal。2。 Females have selected areas of performance advantage over males。3。 Women are more att Definitely worth the listen/read。A wonderfully written book， with numerous references to literature studies and data to support conclusions and perspectives。Although biased in parts， the author identifies his bias and then utilizes his grasp of the data to present his interpretations。The book is structured around 10 propositions， which I briefly summarize below。1。 Sex differences in personality are universal。2。 Females have selected areas of performance advantage over males。3。 Women are more attracted to people vocations。4。 Brain “sex differences” are coordinated with “phenotypic” traits。5。 Human populations are genetically distinctive， reflective of corresponding self-identified race and ethnicity。6。 Evolutionary selection pressures are mainly “local”。7。 Continental population differences are common。8。 Shared environment is a minor role in personality， abilities and socialBehavior。9。 Class structure are based on differences in abilities that have substantial genetic component。10。 Outside interventions are inherently constrained in the effect they can have on personality， abilities and social behavior （for now）。I bought the book after listening to it so I can fully appreciate the references。 。。。more
B。T。 Exotic
，
Good overview of the science as of 2019。 Over the past 10 years it has become progressively more impossible to pretend that gender and race are mere social and cultural phenomenon。 Mountains of evidence pile in daily， from twin studies （MZ vs。 DZ） to GWAS。 It is now possible to give a sorting algorithm SNPs （single nucleotide polymorphisms） data on thousands of individuals and have the algorithm sort the individuals into categories that almost perfectly match with the common racial categories。 T Good overview of the science as of 2019。 Over the past 10 years it has become progressively more impossible to pretend that gender and race are mere social and cultural phenomenon。 Mountains of evidence pile in daily， from twin studies （MZ vs。 DZ） to GWAS。 It is now possible to give a sorting algorithm SNPs （single nucleotide polymorphisms） data on thousands of individuals and have the algorithm sort the individuals into categories that almost perfectly match with the common racial categories。 The algorithm needs extremely few a priori assumptions。A large amount of the variation of intelligence and political views are explained by genes and nothing else （at least in the modern west）。Men and women differ greatly in cognitive repertoires and their differences are exactly what evolutionary psychology would predict。If anything Murray is too conservative （epistemologically not politically speaking） in this book。 I’m the first 90% of the book he focuses on statements about gender， race， and class that are so obvious to almost be boring。 If you are privy to the state of knowledge in these fields then this book will be very interesting but no big surprises。 If you are on the left of the political spectrum， I would urge you to learn about this science before it becomes so obvious as to become almost irrefutable。 Regardless of how taboo we make this topic; China and Russia will continue to delve into the genome and publish what they see。 If the left wants to maintain credibility in the next 20 years they should learn this material and find a way to make their political schemes work in concordance with what is obvious and provable about human nature。 。。。more
Jurij Fedorov
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Introduction6/10There is not much concrete info here， it's just an intro to the topic of the book。 There are a lot of hesitant points and Murray even promises to avoid evolutionary psychology， not because it's not good science， but because ideological groups have succeeded in making it controversial - according to him。 I disagree。 I think EP can be presented in a way so most people will accept it。 Most EP psychologists are left-wingers at any rate and won't cancel themselves。As always I feel Introduction6/10There is not much concrete info here， it's just an intro to the topic of the book。 There are a lot of hesitant points and Murray even promises to avoid evolutionary psychology， not because it's not good science， but because ideological groups have succeeded in making it controversial - according to him。 I disagree。 I think EP can be presented in a way so most people will accept it。 Most EP psychologists are left-wingers at any rate and won't cancel themselves。As always I feel like Murray is a bit too careful in how he phrases things and what evidence he dares to use。 I'm someone who just uses any and all evidence no matter what emotional valence it has， but most social scientists try to make it as inoffensive as possible。 It also means you can't quite reach the full and brutal truth。 It would be like writing a book about Kanye West and then try to avoid all his controversial statements。 It would lack some of the truth。 Part I - “Gender Is a Social Construct”6/10I was waiting for evidence and studies yet again， but this is still a slow intro。 It's good for laymen willing to take the time to slowly ease into the topic， but I've read many thousands of pages on this stuff and kinda am ready to just get the facts。I think the main issue is avoiding evolutionary psychology here。 You can't really answer 80% of the attacks if you can't use EP to explain why gender differences exist and how they work。 But yet Murray uses EP a bit here and there in a gist-like fashion but the experiments are not really mentioned。 So it becomes hazy。I think it could be wise to mark the chapters by level of info so that people who already know EP can skip some of them。 This one is a great intro to the topic， but yet an easy skip for many。1。 A Framework for Thinking About Sex Differences6，5/10Pretty fine chapter if you want to understand why a lot of small sex differences should not be dismissed as "small differences"， but rather be seen as a big difference between the sexes as they add up。I do feel like it rushes past the math and formulas。 He presents as lot of formulas， and we understand what they are， but not how they work。 Personally I consider how they work to be more essential as it would tell us if the math is proper for this stuff or not。 Murray either didn't want to go into it or didn't have an easy way to describe this stuff which is a shame as some of this is very fascinating。Besides that the chapter point is very basic。 So you both have a lot of complicated formulas presented， but on the other side get no explanation for the math and only a singular point。 I think this is an essential chapter to understand for any reader， but the level seems to switch between very high to very basic from page to page which is a bit weird and yet again doesn't make it ideal for any one specific group。2。 Sex Differences in Personality6，5/10I'm not a fan of the level of the book。 It's a bit too complicated for the audiobook format， but it's not just it。 It feels like it's super complicated when talking about studies and numbers and then becomes a bit too simplified when some overall hypothesis is explained。 And the various points only get a few pages each so we never really fully dig into a topic。But it's essential info and there are actually quite a few good studies presented here。 I strongly recommend getting the text book too if you want to understand the audiobook。 It has some lists and tables you may want to check out and reading the text at your own pace makes it all easier to digest。3。 Sex Differences in Neurocognitive Functioning9/10Now we're cooking。 This is a very strong chapter on sex differences。 I have read a lot of different psychology and sociology textbooks to get concentrated info dumps。 And there wasn't a single textbook with this much concentrated info on sex differences。 I could find a few charts and tables in most books， but nothing like this。 Which tells you that textbooks are not yet ideal in 2020 as they have 700 pages to make their point yet overlook some of the most replicated results in all of social science。 Maybe $100 textbooks ought to have websites with just a ton of results summarized？While reading this chapter I did look into sources and some of the studies had only a couple of hundred participants， but you could just find other sources for similar claims。 I guess I just don't trust social science anymore so I mostly search for meta studies。 Murray just uses single studies by themselves。Anyhow， I hope the book remains at this level。4。 Sex Differences in Educational and Vocational Choices7/10Different interests and skill sets mean men and women pick different educations， jobs and career paths。 Wealthier nations allow women to choose more freely instead of based on income which increases the sex differences。It's basic stuff we already know。 Yet it's research and data you won't really find in any textbook and have to seek out yourself。 So it's nice it's here。Unfortunately the chapter is awfully dry on audiobook format。 I was bored much of the time and confused about the research and studies because it's all very academic and focused on using proper sourcing and carefully structured arguments。 There is a lot of great research and data here。 You can study each page for 10 minutes。 But then the conclusions feel hesitant and vague in a way that makes them dry and not fully illuminating。 I think it's a great intro for the clueless liberal or post-modernistic student， but it could have gone a bit further and I think maybe it would work better with colorful charts and pictures instead of the audiobook？ It reads like a very good academic paper， but have you ever wanted to get a paper on audiobook？ Not me。5。 Sex Differences in the Brain7/10Full on biological psychology。 I miss this so much。 I haven't really found a reason to read much of it after I got my degree as it's mostly for people working with brain scans， but it's fascinating stuff。Unfortunately the chapter is yet again not really ideal for audiobook format as there is no story to tell here。 It's just findings presented one after another。 It's hard to get into and I constantly lost focus here because it often got too complicated。I still got some great enjoyment out of this book for being so damn packed with great science。 It surpasses even psychology textbooks in this aspect。 I'd for sure recommend this chapter to anyone wanting to learn about brain sex differences。 But there are so many single details here that you are bound to lose the overview at times。 It's data and findings。 Part II - “Race Is a Social Construct”8/10Very good intro but it's just 4 pages so it's not really much of anything。6。 A Framework for Thinking About Race Differences6/10Short basic intro to DNA and snips。 It's stuff you can read in other books， but here it's made relevant to races。 It's actually pretty much explains why races do exist in some way。7。 Genetic Distinctiveness Among Ancestral Populations7/10Still not ideal for audiobook format。 But these technical jargon chapters are not really for me in any format。 The K cluster analysis is not that interesting to me unless the method is explained too or I get to interact with cluster data on some website。 Just an intro of "there is a method called cluster analysis" is not that illuminating。 Though I do think Murray has a great simple intro to it here and for people interested in race groups， I'm not that much， I think this chapter will be great。 Yet again I feel like I need to reread the chapter to get it all because the minor points slip by me。8。 Evolution Since Humans Left Africa7/10As all the chapters I rate 7 it's just a 6 in audiobook format。 It's way too complicated to understand if you listen to audiobooks while you play chess， solve Android puzzle games or fix some Excel spreadsheet data and are not fully focused。 Numbers and definitions fly at you at a rapid pace。 It's for sure a fascinating chapter， but just like all the other chapters I'll have to reread it if I want to fully get it。 It's a bunch of studies collected into one chapter。9。 The Landscape of Ancestral Population Differences6/10Snippets in DNA。 More of the same really。 More proof that races exist presented in the same structured way by using actual studies and findings to show everything。 I think anyone interested in race should for sure read these chapters， but they are not simple or exciting。 Part III - “Class Is a Function of Privilege”7/10Too short， but good intro to how to look into unfair outcomes for classes， races and sexes。 Basically if people/groups with the same level of education and IQ end up with similar status then society likely doesn't hinder progress of any one group。 And indeed basically everything seems fair in USA。 I do wish Murray would at times take a step further and look into racist programs like affirmative action to see if it hurts Asian Americans or Whites in specific areas。10。 A Framework for Thinking About Heritability and Class6/10Basic intro to twin studies。 Not bad at all， but it's short so it leaves you with quite a few open questions。 I would rather it had been more simple but longer。 For me it's not super new or interesting， but I think that for a new reader this could be a new world。 So it's hard to rate it。 I guess I can say that at right this moment in my life I don't feel like I need to read it。 10 years ago I would have needed such an intro。11。 The Ubiquity of Heritability and the Small Role of the Shared Environment8/10Great intro to heritability of human traits。 This is easy to understand and fits the audiobook format very well。In the other chapters the "extra info" boxes just made the chapters really hard to follow at times as the main argument would often be ignored for a while as the extra info was read to us。 In this chapter it works more fluently and you feel like the chapter is 1 long point。 The other chapters feel like dry textbook intros without photos or charts。12。 Abilities， Personality， and Success7/10Short chapter on success in work and education and why IQ is such a strong predictive force in psychology。 Very important chapter， but does use a bit too much data and numbers to be considered ideal for audiobook format。13。 Constraints and Potentials9/10This is easier to understand， less technical， and gives the reader a very basic overview which is a huge plus for learning。 It's still not exciting or expansive though。 He kinda describes the very basics without going into many details which is frustrating as I for example really want to learn more about why epigenetics in mammals may or may not be an actual thing。The reason I really like this chapter is that it's an essential overview of partly pseudoscientific topics like: the self-esteem movement， stereotype threat， epigenetics in mammals， early childhood interventions。 These things are not fully pseudoscience， but none of these areas have even a 10th of the effect sizes the proponents claim。 It's all vague areas with thousands of studies done every year yet nothing is conclusive and many studies show no effect。 This could very well become a chapter that will be required reading at many intro psychology courses。 I think it will be for sure because in the psychology textbooks I've read none of these areas are looked at critically so you get a basic overview of the points without these clear rebuttal points too。 But maybe now that Murray has written this book psychology textbooks will have to up their game and make sure they remain relevant？ One can only hope。 These areas have been studied since the start of psychology， but textbooks and intro lectures are yet to catch up with this research。 Part IV - Looking Ahead5/10Intro to the next part of the book。 Half a page long。14。 The Shape of the Revolution6/10A philosophical overview over how to tackle the issue of heritability。 Interesting ideas but I feel like they could have been presented in a simpler way。 I guess as he is guessing about what will or can happen it's harder to review it as I can't know if the future will prove him right or wrong。 You can judge for yourself。 But it's not as essential a chapter as the former chapters about current evidence。15。 Reflections and Speculations5/10Not the strongest of chapters。 It feels toothless。 Finally Murray mentions evolutionary psychology and says good things about it， but at the same time the chapter is also used to pull the book ideologically to the left as he finally can add his own ideas instead of following the research。 In some ways he praises feminism and cultural progress and it's all done with very little to no evidence。 I'm not sure if he tries to appease left-wing readers here and show that he is one of them or if he just felt the need to have a pro cultural influence chapter？ It's just weird and the least scientific chapter of the book。 Murray does have a tendency to appease the left and you see the same thing in The Bell Curve， but here it's complicated points and less accessible writing so it feels even more out of place。 In The Bell Curve you could at least understand the basic cultural arguments and why one would propose them in 1994 before a lot of the new heritability studies appeared and dismissed most of those cultural influence claims。Anyhow， the chapter also makes the book sorta inconsistent。 In The Bell Curve the philosophical arguments are very clear and direct。 Here it feels hazy and unspecific。 This is not an ideal writing style for personal ideas。 Make it clear or don't write it。Besides the EP mention the chapter also has a fairly fine point about changing people。 As of now we can only change people in short intervals。 I feel like this idea needs to be explored more instead of just mentioned。 How do we increase these intervals？ Can we go from changing a person for 1 day to 2 days？ Sure it won't ever last even half a year， but an extra day can be used practically。 Imagine you have 1000 workers working 1 extra day a year。 。。。more
Geoff
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This is a very interesting book filled with many facts that tackle a lot of social and sexual questions that are being ignorantly argued （note I don't say debated） on social media today。 It will be ignored or disliked by those people who need to have conflict to fuel their popularity。 Basically， individuals who just want to ignore facts in favour of popular opinion。 For all the information contained within in this book I give 5 stars。For keeping my attention and choosing to listen to this book r This is a very interesting book filled with many facts that tackle a lot of social and sexual questions that are being ignorantly argued （note I don't say debated） on social media today。 It will be ignored or disliked by those people who need to have conflict to fuel their popularity。 Basically， individuals who just want to ignore facts in favour of popular opinion。 For all the information contained within in this book I give 5 stars。For keeping my attention and choosing to listen to this book rather than read it I give it a 4 star rating。 This is a book that should be read to get more out of it。 Audio is good and if you set time aside to sit down and listen to it like a lecture you may get more out of it。 The reader is very good at giving that interested lecturer vibe。Overall 4 stars for the Audio Book。 5 Stars for the book and content itself。 。。。more
djcb
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Charles 'Bell Curve' Murray's book on human diversity。 He attempts to make it as uncontroversial as possible， going out of his way to use established， undisputed science （until the end of the book， where he speculates a bit more）。It's suggested that there are some significant differences between men and women， and that is for a significant part genetic。 There are the obvious physical differences， but there also seem to be differences in personality characteristics。 Interestingly， IQ measurements Charles 'Bell Curve' Murray's book on human diversity。 He attempts to make it as uncontroversial as possible， going out of his way to use established， undisputed science （until the end of the book， where he speculates a bit more）。It's suggested that there are some significant differences between men and women， and that is for a significant part genetic。 There are the obvious physical differences， but there also seem to be differences in personality characteristics。 Interestingly， IQ measurements do not seem to be different， but the personality characteristics do influence the strategy people choose to solve problems。The race/class etc。 differences are rightly presented as less-well-researched， so there's still quite a bit of uncertainty there。。。 still genes do seem to matter quite a bit。 It's not all environment。I didn't think the book is very controversial， and the criticisms I read weren't too convincing。Overall interesting deluge of statistics。 。。。more
Andi
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This is an amazing amount of data that we can use to improve the lives of everyone。
Matthew Mechtly
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An Inconvenient Truth : Global Warming :: Human Diversity : Social Constructivism。I learned recently that Charles Murray has often been categorized as a racist。 Having read this book， I don't know if this could be any further from the truth。 There are several other reviews that include dozens of quotes that prove as much， so I won't waste space for that here。In reality， Murray points out much of the data that is incompatible with the ideology of what many people want to be true: people being a b An Inconvenient Truth : Global Warming :: Human Diversity : Social Constructivism。I learned recently that Charles Murray has often been categorized as a racist。 Having read this book， I don't know if this could be any further from the truth。 There are several other reviews that include dozens of quotes that prove as much， so I won't waste space for that here。In reality， Murray points out much of the data that is incompatible with the ideology of what many people want to be true: people being a blank slate unencumbered by any sort of genetic determinism。 While there's definitely a place for both seats at the nurture/nature debate table， it is important as a society that we build social welfare programs with the reality of human nature is， not how we wish for human nature to be。 With that in mind， if you genuinely are interested in developing betting social programs， it's best to understand which attributes of human nature and fixed and which are more malleable。 This will allow us to prioritize certain experiments/programs and actually make an impact in people's lives: instead of just feeling good about all the positive things it seems like we're doing。 。。。more
Paul Sand
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My report: http://punsalad。com/cgi-bin/ps？spec=2。。。 My report: http://punsalad。com/cgi-bin/ps？spec=2。。。 。。。more
Jari Havela
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Excellent！ Commendable！ Respect to the author！
Sunlogix
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Very dry， would probably work well as a textbook in school or if you are looking for references in a debate。
Who
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Better described as HUMAN DIVERSITY WITH AN EMPHASIS ON SEX DIFFERENCES。 Murray plays it safe， doesn't touch the risky subjects and tries to stay within the consensus to avoid the controversy of earlier books。 What you get is a good primer on HBD but that's about it。 Little on race differences comparatively though Better described as HUMAN DIVERSITY WITH AN EMPHASIS ON SEX DIFFERENCES。 Murray plays it safe， doesn't touch the risky subjects and tries to stay within the consensus to avoid the controversy of earlier books。 What you get is a good primer on HBD but that's about it。 Little on race differences comparatively though 。。。more
cool breeze
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Murray sets out to disprove three core dogmas of the politically-correct orthodoxy in this book:Gender is a social constructRace is a social constructClass is a function of privilegeHe does so beyond any reasonable doubt。 Although the book is mainly aimed at a general audience， Murray is a controversial figure since The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life and concurrently has to defend himself against academic criticism from the virulent "social construct" partisans。 So Murray sets out to disprove three core dogmas of the politically-correct orthodoxy in this book:Gender is a social constructRace is a social constructClass is a function of privilegeHe does so beyond any reasonable doubt。 Although the book is mainly aimed at a general audience， Murray is a controversial figure since The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life and concurrently has to defend himself against academic criticism from the virulent "social construct" partisans。 So， the discussion sometimes gets fairly technical and dry。 Also， Murray often soft-pedals the provocative implications of his conclusions， which would have enlivened the book。 As he puts it in his summation in the final chapter， "My conclusions are so cautious that they shouldn’t be controversial"。 But reading a book by a thought-provoking author loses a lot of its interest if he is going to largely duck controversy， as he does here。 A weak "can’t we all get along" appeal to facts and reason isn’t of much use when the other side is dogmatically committed to utterly destroying you and everything for which you stand。The book deserves 5 stars for the importance of the ideas and Murray’s courage in once again challenging the politically-correct orthodoxy， but the discussion gets too deep in the weeds and Murray pulls his punches about the implications， so I can only give it 4 stars。 。。。more
Elizabeth Kane
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Given to me by John Waller， this book was heavy on scientific discovery， formulas， means， blah ， blah statistics of the biology of diversity。 Trys to basically say DNA has a heavier role in the differences in races， sexes， etc， than society at large ， etc。 Interesting information， over 250 pages of nothing but appendix tells you something。 But I pushed through it。 Certainly enlightened me on the topic of social programs， though。 Interesting food for thought
Jake C
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An excellent survey of the scientific and technical material on human diversity， specifically the role of genetics in diversity of gender， race， and class。The book is not controversial （as some might be expecting from a Charles Murray book）， but is nonetheless illuminating， and proposes a fundamental shift in the framework we use to think about diversity in various contexts。 This framework is grounded in current scientific consensus on certain issues， much of which seem -for some reason - unknow An excellent survey of the scientific and technical material on human diversity， specifically the role of genetics in diversity of gender， race， and class。The book is not controversial （as some might be expecting from a Charles Murray book）， but is nonetheless illuminating， and proposes a fundamental shift in the framework we use to think about diversity in various contexts。 This framework is grounded in current scientific consensus on certain issues， much of which seem -for some reason - unknown in mainstream public discourse。The book is heavier on the science and stats than I expected， but i quickly realised that such emphasis on the detail of the science is sorely needed， given the complexity of these issues。 。。。more
Chris McDonald
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Excellent， challenging。 Forces new thought and the admittance that our ability to shape human persons is chained by nature itself。
Alain Van Rijn
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Gives great mental clarity on the topics mentioned in the title。 Helps too safely ignore the hysteria and go back to work without distractions。
Julian Schrittwieser
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Murray propose ten theses in this book。 Some or all may be controversial， but he presents solid evidence for all of them。 He goes on to argue that we should not tie our value judgements to attributes that may largely be due to genetic luck （such as intelligence） and instead treat everyone equally no matter their differences。The ten theses: Sex differences in personality are consistent worldwide and tend to widen in more gender-egalitarian cultures。 On average， females worldwide have advantages i Murray propose ten theses in this book。 Some or all may be controversial， but he presents solid evidence for all of them。 He goes on to argue that we should not tie our value judgements to attributes that may largely be due to genetic luck （such as intelligence） and instead treat everyone equally no matter their differences。The ten theses: Sex differences in personality are consistent worldwide and tend to widen in more gender-egalitarian cultures。 On average， females worldwide have advantages in verbal ability and social cognition while males have advantages in visuospatial abilities and the extremes of mathematical ability。 On average， women worldwide are more attracted to vocations centered on people and men to vocations centered on things。 Many sex differences in the brain are coordinate with sex differences in personality， abilities， and social behavior Human populations are genetically distinctive in ways that correspond to self-identified race and ethnicity。 Evolutionary selection pressure since humans left Africa has been extensive and mostly local。 Continental population differences in variants associated with personality， abilities， and social behavior are common。 The shared environment usually plays a minor role in explaining personality， abilities， and social behavior。 Class structure is importantly based on differences in abilities that have a substantial genetic component。 Outside interventions are inherently constrained in the effects they can have on personality， abilities， and social behavior。 。。。more
Mike Degen
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