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The Greatest Collective Scientific Fraud of the 20th Century: The Demolition of Differential Psychology and Eugenics
Helmuth Nyborg
Published: 2011/03/01
Abstract
Supporters of differential psychology and eugenics were allowed to freely reflect on the importance of individual differences, on how to avoid dysgenic development, and even on how to improve the human condition. This basic proviso for meaningful scientific inquiries changed radically around 1950 when the topics were banned and their adherents demonized, despite supportive evidence. The present paper provides examples of typical attacks and analyzes the reasons for this bizarre deviation from normal science. It points to some of the people and institutions responsible, discusses the unfair tools they use, and illustrates how damaging their inexcusable intellectual corruption has been for the academic life at many modern universities. It remains an important future task to find ways of breaking the spell and return differential psychology and eugenics to normal science again.
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