Thomas Sowell says there are cultural differences in academic performance, but his explanations, do not seem complete or totally believable. Thoughts?

[jennifer_bloom]

I believe the reason Asians and Jewish groups tend to do well in school is that Asian culture emphasizes social hierarchy and obedience which leads to humility, and Jewish culture emphasizes moral legalism and glorifying somebody other than yourself, which once again leads to humility.

Also Jewish culture emphasizes respect for people outside the Jewish demographic, while many other groups, only concern themselves with inner group inclusion, or militant universal cohesiveness, rather than permissive respect and accommodation for those of different groups.

That could be the three things that cause Jews to be successful in this world, which is moral legalism, selfless and egoless religious glorification, permissive respect for cultural and social diversity outside Jewish ideologies.

And the thing that causes Chinese people to be successful, is the heavy emphasis on self determination in your career and collaborative social responsibility which leads to a humble mind set. Since the bible says God exalts the humble and shames the proud.

[Atze1984]

Well the Chinese do have a very regulated society, for example game time is limited by the state... Also there is a very heavy penalty for the social standing of less educated people.

Nevertheless there are huge swaths of their country that could be considered near 3rd world, as they are very remote and lacking in resources.

Yes the basics of math and all other relevant studies seem to be in excellent order.
But philosophy , critical thinking, or even social studies are very regulated and narrowed down into the narrative of the party.

So how would we really judge a society? Also keep in mind that at least in the EU (where i live) we are having a influx of uneducated migrants... When looking at the numbers that does influence it a lot, yet we see that 2nd and 3rd generation migrants do a lot better.

As for the Jewish people , did you ever consider that the hassidic and other strict orthodox Jewish people do not participate in such studies? They are maybe not the majority , yet a study mirrors only the people participating.

In general i would agree that the Jewish are among the most intelligent but also complex people.

Please forgive any form or spelling mistakes , this is not my original language or even 4th that i learned.

Gr

Atze

[tulgablake]

Sowell highlights cultural attitudes toward education, work ethic, and family structure as key factors in academic performance, but his explanations can feel incomplete because they underplay systemic issues like inequality, discrimination, and resource disparities. Culture matters, but it isn’t the whole story.