how can you be so smart and still have friends?

College Confidential Community
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<p>Some people - like the siemen winners - are freaks of nature when it comes to how much knowledge they have compared to me. And I'm in the top 10% in terms of brains at least.</p>

<p>My friend knows this kid who took differential equations when he was in 7th grade. Has there Always been kids this smart??? How the hell are they so smart and still have a life?</p>

<p>Especially those coming from China. Not only super smart but increasingly more well rounded in everything else.</p>

<p>Do they sleep in research labs? Do their parents inject their brains with hgh in their infant days? Please enlighten me about their lifestyles, because I don't believe that it's mostly genetics because that would be just too freaking unfair</p>

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<p>It’s mostly genetics.</p>

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<p>Not necessarily. Most Asian parents are very strict when it comes to academic performance. A person brains stops growth at the age of 6, so its basically how much can you pack into a person after the brain stops growth, which is A LOT for some people whose parents basically shove books down a kids throat. People can achieve great knowledge if they dedicate themselves to it, and then there are true genius who are just gifted and do most of their education by themselves. But that’s just me and my opinion.</p>

<p>Might I point out as well that China only shows off their best of the best. They are just as flawed as we are here in the US.</p>

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<p>Early childhood education.</p>

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<p>I ponder this topic a lot. My theory:
China/Asia holds the majority of the world’s population. Say that the population of China is 1 billion. Assume that the top 1% apply to American schools in order to seek a better education. 1% of 1 billion is 10 million! I think we’re just seeing the best of the best.</p>

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<p>lolololololol no.</p>

<p>The kids came here because they couldn’t survive the rigorous corriculum in China.</p>

<p>Well, a lot of them. Others were forced by their parents. </p>

<p>Either way, chinese kids who’s been here for a few years will never be able to go back and catch up, unless they’re like USAMO level in everything</p>

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<p>Main factors:

  1. Genetics – if you aren’t born with a high IQ, you’ve got major catching up to do
  2. Being pushed as a child – this gets you ahead of the curve
  3. Having parents who “assist” them – I would be absolutely stunned if most national/international science fair winners received no help from their parents. Whether the parents came up with the idea, provided laboratory space, or whatever, it’s a huge advantage.</p>
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<p>I think 2 and 3 are the most most most common and has the most effect.</p>

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<p>If he took differential equations in grade 7, this suggests two possibilities to me:</p>

<p>1) He really is something of a genius.</p>

<p>2) For whatever reason, he has been completely and utterly obsessed with academics for pretty much his whole life, and I’d guess that the only friends he has are similarly obsessed.</p>

<p>Situation (2) is unfortunately common among people taking advanced courses at a young age. Very often the parents push them ridiculously hard from an early age (often because the parents are highly educated and recognize unusual potential in their child, so they want to continue the legacy) and the kids develop a notion that if they don’t take these advanced courses at a young age, then they’re not living up to their potential, so around middle school the kids start pushing themselves just as hard as their parents initially pushed them just to avoid the psychological turmoil of feeling like what to them would be a failure. I’m not saying everyone in that situation goes through this, but I’ve talked to a number of people who were very advanced in their schooling, and they all exhibited this attitude almost precisely.</p>

<p>Situation (1) is very, very rare, and I can’t say I’ve ever met someone I’d truly consider to be in that situation. They’re the ones who really are basically geniuses, able to take advanced courses at a young age WITHOUT obsessing about academics and still ace them. They’re the ones with truly unbelievable natural ability.</p>

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<p>Um. A lot of people wonder why Asians (I’m asian, just an fyi) tend to academically perform better than other races here in the US, and there’s a really simple explanation:
Natural Selection, to an extent.</p>

<p>Those Asians that could leave their country in the last century tended to have a lot of money; migration doesn’t come cheap, especially when a currency is significantly undervalued compared to the US Dollar. The ones with this money of course tended to be the ones who were either groomed to be rich, or were especially talented and intelligent and were able to move up the socio-economic ladder. Either way, the genes we’re talking about tend to be the highest of the Asian races. Moreover, those Asians that moved here and survived/thrived were the top few of the the top few who migrated. I hope you see what I’m getting at.</p>

<p>Basically, people tend to compare the average black/latino/white to the highest percentiles of asians in terms of genes, b/c only the highest percentile could manage to get over here.</p>

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<p>Guys, when you were in Kintergarden what were you doing?
I know what I was doing; Playing with blocks and stuff like that…
What do you think the kids who were educated under the asian system were doing in Kintergarden?
Math was being drilled into their heads. And then after school ends they go to a tutor and do it all over again.
What were you doing after school ended? Probably in daycare or with friends.</p>

<p>I wouldn’t stress about this. You’ll learn what you need eventually. There’s not much difference between a chinese PhD and an american PhD (though how many of these do we even see anymore…).</p>

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<p>Elitist much, it’s a bold claim, yes I know, but what else? Come one, you can’t be serious. Or are you? Natural Selection, NO, well yes, but NO! LOL, how do you explain the entire Asian population as being academically higher then the average American? I’ve seen plenty of low-income Asians out preform many students, while a lot of high-income students under preform. Your theory would be good if it was true, but it’s not. Only the highest income made it to the US? NO, please do some more research.</p>

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<p>I always thought that Asians did better in school simply because their culture places a very high emphasis on education. That natural selection theory sounds ridiculous. I would think that people well off in their native countries would stay there, and that only people looking to move up in society would leave to go to America.</p>

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<p>^^ I actually think Vaeliant is correct. Look at the statistics. East Asian and Indian kids perform the best out of all the Asians (for example, SE Asian kids). We are talking in sweeping generalizations of course, but this is fact. It’s not about some low income Asians beating some high income students. It’s a simple fact that high income students typically do better. </p>

<p>Also, I think you misunderstand what “high-income made it to the US” means. It means that most of the immigrants were those that were relatively well-off in their NATIVE countries and had the opportunity to come here. Thus the stereotype/joke about say, an indian doctor driving a taxi in NYC. </p>

<p>@Michael2010: What happens is the ppl at the very top stay, the ppl just under tend to emigrate. It’s pretty hard to get into America from Asia! Also, their culture may make a difference of course, but I read a study that showed above average IQ in Asian Americans. That’s not from an emphasis on education.</p>

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<p>“Elitist much, it’s a bold claim, yes I know, but what else? Come one, you can’t be serious. Or are you? Natural Selection, NO, well yes, but NO! LOL, how do you explain the entire Asian population as being academically higher then the average American? I’ve seen plenty of low-income Asians out preform many students, while a lot of high-income students under preform. Your theory would be good if it was true, but it’s not. Only the highest income made it to the US? NO, please do some more research.”</p>

<p>“I’ve seen plenty of low-income Asians out preform many students, while a lot of high-income students under preform.”</p>

<p>Granted that this is certainly true, they’re merely cases. You cannot disagree with me in saying that the average asian in the US is comparatively well off, in respect to the other races.</p>

<p>[US</a> Census Press Releases](<a href=“http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/income_wealth/005647.html]US”>http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/income_wealth/005647.html)
Sorry I couldn’t find more up to date data. Cross reference the 2004 average earnings with the average:
[National</a> Average Wage Index](<a href=“http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/COLA/AWI.html]National”>National Average Wage Index).</p>

<p>I’m not talking about ‘academics’ or grades, or anything like that. I’m saying that asians on average earn much more than the average white family. Why? NOT because the asian race in general is superior or educates their children better or anything like that. It’s just that the asians that we’re talking about, here in the US, ARE the top percentile of asians worldwide. Think about it. The average indian? 400 million are on the streets in India, and that’s the numbers that have been counted. That’s 40% of the indian population. The average is not much better. Do you think that an Indian on the street, the average Indian, would fare better on a test or in a life than the average White kid? No. </p>

<p>I’m not being elitist in any way. I’m simply criticizing the standard to which most people are evaluating Asians. The Asians in the United States are NOT the average. Those are the select few that managed to make it here. The poster above indicates this the best: </p>

<p>“only people looking to move up in society would leave to go to America.”</p>

<p>Right. So if not the rich (and mind you, it does take a large amount of money to migrate/get visas), then certainly the well motivated. Either way, these are traits not in the average asian, but rather in the sample people tend to select.</p>

<p>Speaking in terms of statistics, your sample is not representative of the asian population, nor is it random in any way. You’re only selecting out of one subgroup. the ones here in the United States.</p>

<p>If you don’t buy that argument, you can also look to the fact that SAT scores and whatnot are directly correlated with income as well. And what do you know? Asians make more money. They aren’t a race that educates their children perfectly or is superior in anyway. We just are making some statistical fallacies, in general.</p>

<p>(I’m sorry this is illegible, but I don’t know how to do the quote thingies. =/. I would much appreciate being taught though."</p>

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<p>Dude, go back to China for a year in school, get top grades, actually pass the GaoKao, then we’ll talk.</p>

<p>otherwise, don’t BS. My cousins who are in China, and who are not even top students and a few grades younger than me PWN me in math easily. Oh, and I got 118.5 on the AMC12, so I’m not that stupid.</p>

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<p>Lol. The fact that your cousins go to school means that they’re in the top percentile in China…
Dude. It’s not a difficult concept. The Asian race isn’t freaking superior lol. We’re just comparing to a non-representative sample.</p>

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<p>No one said asians were superior. </p>

<p>They’re just much more focused on academics. You can’t deny this truth. If a white kid or a black kid benefitted from that kind of an environment, they too would become “geniuses”.</p>

<p>The north american school systems seriously fail in academics.</p>

<p>Again, do you honestly think you can even pass the gaokao? I don’t know how good you are, but being on CC, you might be pretty good. Still, I doubt you’d be able to. </p>

<p>pass as in get in a decent school in China, like Nankai or something. Not even Qinghua/BeiDa (which appearantly can’t make top 100 schools in the world)</p>

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<p>^ ok i have never heard of these schools</p>

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<p>@sefago, Qinghua and Beida are the best universities in China. </p>

<p>and honestly, i went to China and saw the review materials for the gaokao, and the chemistry/physics/math sections were extremely difficult. for an american student to take the test and get good results is extremely difficult simply because most of the material we cover in high school is very general. the math section of the gaokao is like the amcs, if not harder.</p>