The Mismeasure of Man

As Gould proves in his study, "Numbers and graphs do not gain authority from increasing precision of measurement, sample size, or complexity in manipulation . . . prior commitment to one among many potential conclusions often guarantees a serious flaw . . . in experimental design" (82).

Although the intelligence test has fallen into modern disfavor because of the many reasons Gould outlines, educators have historically labored under its misleading indications. At best, the intelligence test has been an imprecise diagnostic tool to objectify the teaching of students of varying abilities, while at worst, it has been used to further subjugate people presumed to be natively inferior.

The intelligence test has had tremendous potential for the production and reproduction of inequality in schools and society. Educators used the test to objectify their tasks at hand, while the military presumably used the test as a screening tool. It will later become apparent that the "white draft," or the conscription of white males suited for the army, produced an average mental age far lower than one should expect in a country dedicated to public education for all.

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to their offspring, who would, in turn, produce more gifted offspring. Racial purity and intellectual excellence could be attained through selective breeding. Generally, dark-skinned people were considered inferior to whites. One of the earliest attempts to classify people by intelligence was "craniology," or the "science" of measuring heads. Such a system attempted to relegate the dark-skinned savage to a status very near the ape" (73), as Gould cites historian of anthropology George Stocking. Paul Broca (1824-1880), founder of the Anthropological Society of Paris in 1859, was the major proponent of craniology. As Gould argues, a prior commitment to one among many potential conclusions does not produce good science. Broca started his investigations by assuming that blacks, women, and men of low stature had smaller brains than men of eminence. He then proceeded to look for subjects that would substantiate his premise. Broca's disregard for scientific objectivity was characteristic of most intelligence research. In 1904, Alfred Binet was commissioned to develop a set of tasks that would rank children according to their potential need for special education. Gould notes that Binet's work was not a scientific threat in itsel
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Approximate Word count = 1308
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)

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