Human Diversity: The Biology of Gender, Race, and Class

Written by Charles Murray

Narrated by David Baker

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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hachette Audio
• Release date: Jan 28, 2020
• ISBN: 9781478950431

Charles Murray

Richard J. Herrnstein held the Edger Pierce Chair in Psychology at Harvard University until his death in 1994.

Reviews for Human Diversity

[markm2315 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The author is a famous political scientist and sociologist. If you are unfamiliar with his book, The Bell Curve, the Middlebury riot, etc. then you should probably read the 1-star reviews here, the vitriolic biographical entry at the Southern Poverty Law Center's web site, or his Wikipedia article.
As a politically liberal person, someone who thinks that it is wrong to beat-up those who think differently than you do, and a life scientist with some knowledge and interest in statistical analysis, genetics, and neuroscience, I don't see any problem with this book. It is an excellent survey of the data and it is punctuated by several very well done brief introductions to the terminology and basic ideas necessary to understand the discussions with statistics, genetics, and neuroanatomy in them. There is a short appendix that is an introduction to very basic statistical concepts. The author is even-handed and goes out of his way to include alternate points of view when he moves away from the data to their policy implications. He indicates the many areas where our knowledge is imperfect. He mentions his belief that any evaluation of human worth should be completely independent of the traits whose variance the book explicates and his support for universal basic income.
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[By the way, if you want to read another view of this kind of thing check: The Genetic Lottery by Kathryn Paige Harden. I gave it 5 stars.]

[tuckerresearch · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's sad such a book has to be published and has to be so controversial. Are there biological differences in sex/gender? Are there biological differences between racial groups? These two questions should be easily answered. Differences in class caused by biology, a bit harder. But the science is there. Now, even though Murray is not asking for anything bad and never denounces the dignity of any group or promotes superiority of any group, don't worry: he's going to be labeled as a racist, bigot, misogynist, etc., etc., etc. I give it four stars because, despite its attempt to be intelligible to the average reader, it is still mathematically, statistically, and scientifically dense. Also, I hate the reference system, though I am happy there are endnotes, content notes, and a full bibliography.

[pauntley · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Murray provides an exhaustive coverage of current genetic and neuroscience research on the heritability of cognitive capacities and personality characteristics. The text is exemplary in its clarity, layout and explanatory apparatus. Extensive appendices provide a crash course in statistics for those who may need it. Murray is confident that the modern discipline of psychology informed by genetics, neuroscience and powered by computerised statistics has emerged as a quantitative and predictive science. The framework of the book is conservative in its adherence to western, capitalistic economics and ethics and evolutionist in its explanatory stance. Murray is understandably combative in his presentation of the case for the heritability of personality and cognitive capacities and their differential distribution among ancestral ethnicities, genders, social and economic classes and elites. Murray has been a lightning rod for vituperation from those who maintain that the central theses of his psychology are racist, illiberal and profoundly undemocratic. Wherever one stands in this divide, Human Diversity is invaluable for its charity and comprehensive coverage of the case for genetic heritability.