<p>Why do these two groups time after time outperform the average white person in terms of education and income?</p>
<p>It just seems very skewed to me how Jews and Asian probably make up over 40% of the population at HYPSM. It also seems very curious that Jews and Asians dominate Investment banking, medicine, and law. Lots of investment bankers are asian, surprisingly. Jews are losing their prominent medical role to asians nowadays. And jews still dominate law. Dont even get started on engineering and asians.</p>
<p>So why do these two group so disproportionately compose the professional money making fields at the present time? Family values? That just doesnt make sense to me.</p>
<p>That’s because of their strong family’s (parents’) involvement. Asian parents demand their kids to do their best, and they are willing to put their own need in second place to their kids’ learning need. They drill into their kids strong work ethics, respect to the teachers, learn, learn, learn (which also include memorize). They are willing to spend money on kids’ learning (such as music instrutments, extra classes), even though they may be frugal on their own spending.</p>
<p>Both the Jewish culture stresses the importance of doing well by studying. That’s basically what Judaism is all based around. Even if almost more than half of Jews are secular nowadays, it’s just been interwoven into our daily lives. There’s also the fear that anti-Semitism can rise at any point in time so having a higher position kind of keeps you “safer”.</p>
<p>^^^ wow that a really interesting point. I never considered it from that angle before.</p>
<p>I mean its kind of ridiculous how jews just own Investment banking and Private Equity Funds. Mr. Goldman and Mr. Lehman back in the days were both styling their yamacas.</p>
<p>I can’t really say why Asians do so well in life, but speaking as a Jew, I can say why most Jews do well in life. Jews usually do well in life not because of the Jewish children, but because of the Jewish Parents. Because most Jews in the US are 1st, 2nd, or 3rd generation immigrants, they had a tough time in life. Imagine, coming to the US with practically nothing, and slowly yet surely working your way up to the american dream. My parents had to go through that, they came with nothing, and ended up with a lot. Because Jewish Parents had to endure many hardships, they want their kids to be the best. For example, my dad went to Yale and then Harvard for Grad School (btw this is an example, it isn’t bragging), and I’m very proud of him. Because he had to work so hard to have a good life, he forces me to work hard too. The truth of the matter is, Jews and Asians (and many other races) aren’t necessarily smarter than other races, they simply push themselves more. They will never give up.</p>
<p>I find that the “average” white people you’re describing have parents who are also born in the U.S. Some of these parents are already well off, so they do not care too much about their children’s education/future. Thus, their children are not taught to work hard and get good grades. </p>
<p>(Speaking as an Asian) I found that children of immigrants (not just Asians) work harder than everyone else. Many of these smart Asians you know have parents who are immigrants. Most of these parents moved to the U.S because they want their children to lead a better life, thus the urging of their children to get As and become a doctor or w/e. And also the stereotype of the “Asian Parent”. </p>
<p>I’m not too sure about the reason why Jews are like Asians, but I’m guessing it’s because that working hard is their way of life. That’s why they’re so successful.</p>
<p>It’s a matter of cultural emphasis. To your standard “American”, academics really isn’t the top priority. For example, every sports team got a 2 page spread in our year book. Boys, girls, jv, varsity, all of them were treated as individual teams and given a 2 page spread. Math team, science team, debate team, and Model UN all got crammed onto half a page.</p>
<p>But that doesnt make sense. What about the lower middle class workers who take on 3 or 4 jobs. I doubt anyone can argue that they deserve their poor social status.</p>
<p>I think asians and some groups of jews are inherently smarter. Thats what IQ tests show isnt it? Correct me if i am wrong. It sucks being the white person in this time period :(</p>
<p>Jews were bankers dating back to the Middle Ages. “Money-lending” was forbidden to Christians. So Jews have had a lot of experience with money and have passed the skills down to next generations.</p>
<p>I can’t speak for all Asians, but when Chinese immigrants arrived, they were typically the smartest people in China. That’s what they needed to come to the United States on a grant to get a doctorate or something, and that’s how most immigrants arrived. So yes if you take an IQ test of all Chinese and all Americans in the U.S., the average IQ for Chinese will be higher because of the inherent selection bias.</p>
<p>Culture plays a role too; sports and stuff are way more emphasized in American culture, and young kids as a result spend too much time on them. Sports doesn’t really contribute to intellectual development because there’s not much of an element of actual thinking involved (not at the level most people play at anyway), compared to music, math competitions, etc. heck even some video games are more intellectual than sports.</p>
<p>My parents (Chinese immigrants) were not the brightest in school. My mother came as a student with a Christian missionary and my father just got lucky and had the opportunity with a cousin in the US already. Lol, my mom actually was held back for like 3 years XD But anyway, immigrants in general tend to work harder because they typically come without much money. Asians of our parents’ generations mostly grew up poor as **** and had to work freaking hard to where they are. I’m proud of my parents for even getting into middle class status. Asians and Jews, I’m assuming, do well because it’s part of the culture that education is a way out of the lifes of their parents.</p>
<p>Good work ethic comes from the encouragement of the parents. Parents who have 3 or 4 jobs obviously don’t have enough time for their children let alone teach them life lessons.</p>
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<p>That’s not true. Most of the Chinese who came to the U.S were poor and uneducated. Why do you think so many of them took on low paying jobs, while only a few are in universities. If many of the immigrants were smart and educated, then we wouldn’t see so many Asian fanatic parents who worry about their children’s future. </p>
<p>I think sports does contribute to intellectual development. I don’t remember where, but I read that sports help boost brain activity, and that’s why kids who do sports in school also do well in school.</p>
<p>Within America, Asians and Jews have higher IQs than the average person, that really isn’t disputable. However, within the group “America Asians” you’ll have those who come here and run a liquor store, and those who come here to be professors at universities. Obviously one of those groups of people are smarter than the other. The group of Asians that fill HYPSM are the kids of the latter, not the former.</p>
<p>^Generally lack of exercise is attributed to the high possession of automobiles and percentage of population in suburbs, and obesity in general is attributed to fast food.</p>