Human Diversity

The Biology of Gender, Race, and Class

By: Charles Murray

Narrated by: David Baker

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.

Critic reviews

PRAISE FOR COMING APART:

"I'll be shocked if there's another book this year as important as Charles Murray's Coming Apart."—p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-align: center; font: 12.0px Arial}David Brooks, The New York Times

"Mr. Murray's sobering portrait is of a nation where millions of people are losing touch with the founding virtues that have long lent American lives purpose, direction and happiness."—p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-align: center; font: 12.0px Arial}Wall Street Journal

"'Coming Apart brims with ideas about what ails America."—p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-align: center; font: 12.0px Arial}Economist

"[An] incisive, alarming, and hugely frustrating book about the state of American society."—p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-align: center; font: 12.0px Arial}Bloomberg Businessweek

"[A] timely investigation into a worsening class divide no one can afford to ignore."—p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-align: center; font: 12.0px Arial}Publisher's Weekly

"[Murray] argues for the need to focus on what has made the U.S. exceptional beyond its wealth and military power...religion, marriage, industriousness, and morality."—p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; text-align: center; font: 12.0px Arial}Booklist (Starred Review)

Well worth listening to . . . and reading.

Highly, highly recommended to anyone who wants to understand how desperately unscientific much modern educational and social practice really is!

Read this book, after reading Stephen Pinker's "The Blank Slate", written 20 years earlier. Pinker's book describes, somewhat casually, where science was going, 20 odd years ago. Murray's book, published Jan 2020, describes where science has gone -- systematically, repeatedly, confirmedly -- much to the dismay of many Western educators, social workers and sociologists.

Other reviewers have complained that the book is a long slog, with difficult statistics. However if there's another way to convincingly present data that is so unpalatable to Western media and academia, I can't imagine what it might be. And frankly, I'm not sure who listens to, and tries to comprehend, highly complex statistics, while driving in traffic. It's true that if you want to understand all the details of Murray's case, or want to 'fact-check' all his references, then you'll need the printed book. But you'll be able make much more sense of all those details, if you've first gotten the 'big picture' listening to the Audible version.

Material too dense for Audio book

I found the book very informative in the 50K feet level sense. The material though relies on a lot of graphs and statistics that make it hard to follow at the detail level. This would be better in a hard cover format.

Thorough and precise review

I particularly like his evaluation of how certain or uncertain various claims and counter-claims are.

Must Read

Charles Murray expansive dive into human diversity using empirical research, trials, and surveys is a must read for anyone who values honesty without bias.

Important

Although I gave this book 5 stars and it is an incredibly important work, I do have to warn you it is rather tedious at times. I am not an expert, but have a solid enough scientific background to find some of his attempts to educate those who are not scientifically inclined, a bit unbearable and had to skip forward periodically. That being said, his conclusions are solid. His speculations are reasonable and his ideals are excellent. If you have the wherewithal or don’t mind hitting the fast forward button every once in a while, I highly recommend this book.