Daniel Seligman

Daniel Seligman (September 25, 1924 – January 31, 2009) was an American newspaper editor and columnist at Fortune magazine from 1950 to 1997. He also wrote for Forbes, Commentary, The American Mercury, Commonweal, and The New Leader.

A Question of Intelligence Seligman wrote extensively on taboos such as political correctness and genetics. His book, A Question of Intelligence: The IQ Debate in America, adduced evidence that Intelligence quotient is at least partially heritable and that there are meaningful differences in IQ between races.

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 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%.

Death A resident of Manhattan, Seligman died at age 84 on January 31, 2009, from multiple myeloma. He was survived by his wife, the former Meg Sherburn, a son, a daughter, four grandchildren, and a brother and sister.