Other authors cited in The Bell Curve's bibliography are so-called scholars who theorize about a Black sex drive inexorably pushing members of that race towards promiscuity and a concommitant increased likelihood of contracting AIDS.

Amusing though it may be, exposing some of Herrnstein's and Murray's sources is not enough to discredit the entire book. Rather, The Bell Curve has achieved one of its stated goals, which is to bring private speculation on a much whispered-about topic into the public sphere of discussion. Casting aspersions on the authors is not enough--apologists could reasonably label the opinions of liberals like me tendentious, simply because I find the book's conclusion deeply offensive.

Ideas should be judged as though they were sui generis. If their author's private biases were so important, then we would be better served studying biographies instead of actual works.

The Bell Curve's assertions will stand or fall based upon highly technical questions of correlation versus causation. Ultimately, the question deserves careful debate and should be answered by those with an expert knowledge of the field.

Until then, we know nothing more than we did before the book's publication.

Bruce L. Gottleib '97 is an occasional contributor to the Opinion page.