I was impressed this morning by the mentioning of the Bell Curve in Timothy Shire's article "Exceptionality: What is not average?" We are living the BIG LIE, the lie of the supremacy of the Bell Curve in governments, in business, in education and everywhere else, but then making sure we select the sample/population under our Bell Curve.

I am just wondering now if the abuse of the Bell Curve has anything to do with today's fascist corporatism.

Anyhow, the use of our Bell Curve is a scam, and this scam is most visible in the omnipresent use of opinion polls by the concentrated media.

I just want to provide an example of this scam in an educational setting. Some twenty years ago I took a class in managerial accounting from the University of Lethbridge. I didn't do too bad in such a class as I was taking consistent marks in the 70ies. Also, I didn't do too bad in my final exam and therefore I was shocked when later I received the news that I got a final grade of C (60ies) in this class.

I wrote to my professor and I asked what my marks were in this managerial accounting class and I asked why I got a final grade of a C. My professor confirmed that my marks were in the 70ies and confirmed my final grade of a C stating that too many students had their marks in their 70ies and that therefore he had to curve the marks of every student.

Now think of a professor who, for a given class, curves the marks of students who all have their marks in their 90ies, and think of the same professor, for another class, who curves the marks of students who all have their marks in their 30ies. And now ask yourself: is learning associated to the Bell Curving of the marks?

References

For a Just World. Why America Bought The Bell Curve By Dave Harding http://www.princeton.edu/~progrev/95-96/apr96dh.html