"The Mismeasure Of Man" By Stephen Jay Gould
Submitted by FFE on 07/10/2008 11:53 PM
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"The Mismeasure Of Man" By Stephen Jay Gould
Persuasive Paper
Reference: "The Mismeasure of Man" by Stephen Jay Gould
Author: Tony Houston
There is a myth in the sciences that science is "an objective enterprise done
properly only when scientists can shuck the constraints of their culture and view the world as it really is". Stephen Gould, in his book, "The Mismeasure of Man", demonstrates clearly the fallacy of "objective science". Scientists have been influenced by certain political, cultural, and social conditions of their era, and the data is manipulated to support their conclusions which may have been derived in a bias manner. The corollary of "The Mismeasure of Man" is to discuss how research affects social policy and that research is not purely an academic matter.
Gould supports his arguments against objective science by giving an historical background beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, of scientists coming up with various ways to quantify intelligence. The research was necessary to rationalize why certain groups should be ranked higher in society than others. Gould attacks specific individuals and schools of science throughout the past 150 years, and methods used in gathering data to support their theories. He argues that any research that is done to support the hereditarian school of intelligence is flawed, and the findings are the result of the political climate, and the convictions of the researchers.
There were several methods used by scientists in the nineteenth century to quantify intelligence. Crainometry , which is the study of the measure of skulls , was an early method that was used. Scientists, such as Paul Broka and Samuel Morton claimed that intelligence could be measured by brain size, and that whites on average were more intelligent than individuals of other cultures. After carefully reviewing the statistics of
Morton and Broka, Gould successfully refutes their conclusions. Gould also points out that...
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