Review of *Cult of Smart* by Fredrik deBoer

WorldCat link: Cult of Smart
ISBN: 9781250200389, 1250200385

Before getting into the content of the book, I want to mention that my digital copy of this book from Google Play books is missing page numbers in the index. Even in the age of search bars, the page numbers in a book's index are important and should not be ommitted.

I finished Cult of Smart a few weeks ago. It had been on my to-read list for a while after I started reading deBoer's blog (which is rather excellent, even if I don't always agree with him).

The basic idea of CoS is this: people have varying levels of abilities such as intelligence based on heritable traits, and the current system of schooling (and by extension, a lot of society) makes this fundamentally unfair for many people. The first part about heritability of ability and intelligence immediately draws to mind ideas of ugenics and the like. I assure you that Fredrik makes it very clear that is not what he is talking about and how much he rejects ideas of "race realism".

I'll admit that I partially stopped reading this book and skimmed it instead in the later parts as he goes into restructurings of society and the economy of America as we know it. I don't think I'm ready for those ideas yet. I may revisit this book when I have a better understanding of economic theory.

Overall, I don't think this is the kind of book that I'd recommend to everyone. It's certainly well-reasoned and well-written, but the subject matter won't be to everyone's taste. That said, I am glad I read it.