Daniel Seligman
Encyclopedia
Daniel Seligman was an editor and columnist at Fortune
magazine from 1950 to 1997. He also wrote for Forbes
,
Commentary
, The American Mercury
, Commonweal
, and The New Leader
.
to Irving and Clare O'Brien Seligman on September 25, 1924. After serving in the United States Army
during World War II
, Seligman graduated New York University
with a bachelor's degree from New York University.
,
Commonweal
, and The New Leader
before being hired by Fortune
magazine in 1950 as a writer. He later became an editor at Fortune, and in his final two decades at the publication before his retirement in 1997, he wrote more than 400 of the magazine's Keeping Up columns, even after stepping down as associate managing editor in 1988. In a February 1988 editorial marking Seligman's transition to a contributing editor after 37 years at the magazine, the managing editor of Fortune, Marshall Loeb
, described Seligman as "an acerbic slayer of (mostly liberal) prig-headedness ... [who] uses elegance and trenchant wit to wage his never-ending battle against fustian thinking."
and genetics
. His book, A Question of Intelligence: The IQ Debate in America, claimed that Intelligence quotient
is at least partially heritable and that there are meaningful differences in IQ between races
. In a review published in the December 1992 issue of Commentary
magazine, Charles Murray
, author of The Bell Curve
, another book on the IQ issue, described how Seligman had been approached by the Whittle corporation asked him to write a book on IQ for its Whittle books series of brief books covering scholarly topics aimed at the general public. After submitting his completed manuscript in 1990 and proceeded uneventfully through the editing process, the publisher decided that Seligman would be paid the agreed-upon fee, but that they would not publish his manuscript. Free to take the work elsewhere, he doubled the size of his original submission and shifted publishers to Birch Lane Press.
His use of probability and math in his columns was shown in a 1992 column in which he argued that the overwhelming number of Conservative Party
members of Parliament of the United Kingdom
caught up in sex scandals was unlikely to be due to chance. Seligman offered a hypothetical jar filled with 331 blue marbles (representing the number of Conservative MPs at the time) and 269 red marbles (representing the number of Labor MPs) from which a blindfolded observer draws six marbles. The probability that all six would be blue (meaning that all six scandals would be tied to Conservative MPs) was 2.76%.
. He was survived by his wife, the former Meg Sherburn, a son, a daughter, four grandchildren, and a brother and sister.
Fortune (magazine)
Fortune is a global business magazine published by Time Inc. Founded by Henry Luce in 1930, the publishing business, consisting of Time, Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated, grew to become Time Warner. In turn, AOL grew as it acquired Time Warner in 2000 when Time Warner was the world's largest...
magazine from 1950 to 1997. He also wrote for Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
,
Commentary
Commentary (magazine)
Commentary is a monthly American magazine on politics, Judaism, social and cultural issues. It was founded by the American Jewish Committee in 1945. By 1960 its editor was Norman Podhoretz, a liberal at the time who moved sharply to the right in the 1970s and 1980s becoming a strong voice for the...
, The American Mercury
The American Mercury
The American Mercury was an American magazine published from 1924 to 1981. It was founded as the brainchild of H. L. Mencken and drama critic George Jean Nathan. The magazine featured writing by some of the most important writers in the United States through the 1920s and 1930s...
, Commonweal
Commonweal
Commonweal is a American journal of opinion edited and managed by lay Catholics. It is headquartered in The Interchurch Center in New York City.-History:...
, and The New Leader
The New Leader
The New Leader was a political and cultural magazine begun in 1924 by a group of figures associated with the Socialist Party of America, including Eugene V. Debs and Norman Thomas, and published in New York by the American Labor Conference on International Affairs. Its orientation is liberal and...
.
Biography
Seligman was born in ManhattanManhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
to Irving and Clare O'Brien Seligman on September 25, 1924. After serving in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Seligman graduated New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
with a bachelor's degree from New York University.
Fortune magazine
He wrote for The American MercuryThe American Mercury
The American Mercury was an American magazine published from 1924 to 1981. It was founded as the brainchild of H. L. Mencken and drama critic George Jean Nathan. The magazine featured writing by some of the most important writers in the United States through the 1920s and 1930s...
,
Commonweal
Commonweal
Commonweal is a American journal of opinion edited and managed by lay Catholics. It is headquartered in The Interchurch Center in New York City.-History:...
, and The New Leader
The New Leader
The New Leader was a political and cultural magazine begun in 1924 by a group of figures associated with the Socialist Party of America, including Eugene V. Debs and Norman Thomas, and published in New York by the American Labor Conference on International Affairs. Its orientation is liberal and...
before being hired by Fortune
Fortune (magazine)
Fortune is a global business magazine published by Time Inc. Founded by Henry Luce in 1930, the publishing business, consisting of Time, Life, Fortune, and Sports Illustrated, grew to become Time Warner. In turn, AOL grew as it acquired Time Warner in 2000 when Time Warner was the world's largest...
magazine in 1950 as a writer. He later became an editor at Fortune, and in his final two decades at the publication before his retirement in 1997, he wrote more than 400 of the magazine's Keeping Up columns, even after stepping down as associate managing editor in 1988. In a February 1988 editorial marking Seligman's transition to a contributing editor after 37 years at the magazine, the managing editor of Fortune, Marshall Loeb
Marshall Loeb
Marshall Loeb is an American author, editor, commentator and columnist specializing in business matters, who spent 38 years in the Time Inc. publication network which included service as managing editor of both Fortune and Money magazines...
, described Seligman as "an acerbic slayer of (mostly liberal) prig-headedness ... [who] uses elegance and trenchant wit to wage his never-ending battle against fustian thinking."
A Question of Intelligence
Seligman wrote extensively on taboos such as political correctnessPolitical correctness
Political correctness is a term which denotes language, ideas, policies, and behavior seen as seeking to minimize social and institutional offense in occupational, gender, racial, cultural, sexual orientation, certain other religions, beliefs or ideologies, disability, and age-related contexts,...
and genetics
Genetics
Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms....
. His book, A Question of Intelligence: The IQ Debate in America, claimed that Intelligence quotient
Intelligence quotient
An intelligence quotient, or IQ, is a score derived from one of several different standardized tests designed to assess intelligence. When modern IQ tests are constructed, the mean score within an age group is set to 100 and the standard deviation to 15...
is at least partially heritable and that there are meaningful differences in IQ between races
Race and intelligence
The connection between race and intelligence has been a subject of debate in both popular science and academic research since the inception of intelligence testing in the early 20th century...
. In a review published in the December 1992 issue of Commentary
Commentary (magazine)
Commentary is a monthly American magazine on politics, Judaism, social and cultural issues. It was founded by the American Jewish Committee in 1945. By 1960 its editor was Norman Podhoretz, a liberal at the time who moved sharply to the right in the 1970s and 1980s becoming a strong voice for the...
magazine, Charles Murray
Charles Murray (author)
Charles Alan Murray is an American libertarian political scientist, author, columnist, and pundit working as a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank in Washington, DC...
, author of The Bell Curve
The Bell Curve
The Bell Curve is a best-selling and controversial 1994 book by the Harvard psychologist Richard J. Herrnstein and political scientist Charles Murray...
, another book on the IQ issue, described how Seligman had been approached by the Whittle corporation asked him to write a book on IQ for its Whittle books series of brief books covering scholarly topics aimed at the general public. After submitting his completed manuscript in 1990 and proceeded uneventfully through the editing process, the publisher decided that Seligman would be paid the agreed-upon fee, but that they would not publish his manuscript. Free to take the work elsewhere, he doubled the size of his original submission and shifted publishers to Birch Lane Press.
Mathematical methods
Seligman used quantitative methods to support arguments regarding genetics, the connection between socioeconomic status and life spans, the connection between looks and salaries for lawyers and the use of betting at race tracks as a method of laundering money.His use of probability and math in his columns was shown in a 1992 column in which he argued that the overwhelming number of Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
members of Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
caught up in sex scandals was unlikely to be due to chance. Seligman offered a hypothetical jar filled with 331 blue marbles (representing the number of Conservative MPs at the time) and 269 red marbles (representing the number of Labor MPs) from which a blindfolded observer draws six marbles. The probability that all six would be blue (meaning that all six scandals would be tied to Conservative MPs) was 2.76%.
Death
A resident of Manhattan, Seligman died at age 84 on January 31, 2009 from multiple myelomaMultiple myeloma
Multiple myeloma , also known as plasma cell myeloma or Kahler's disease , is a cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell normally responsible for the production of antibodies...
. He was survived by his wife, the former Meg Sherburn, a son, a daughter, four grandchildren, and a brother and sister.