Why do you think the 6 smartest countries in the world are all from East Asia?

[jennifer_bloom]

My theory is, they have affordable sea food because of their close location to water, and most of these countries have variations between hot and cold weather and I believe contrast boosts I. Q. Too much contrast might decrease I. Q. which might be why countries with extreme weather changes throughout the year are not in the top 10.

[Dargil]

Most have relatively modest living standards and see a marketable skill as having the potential to improve that. Many apply them selves more diligently to learning them.

Story line. My older cousin's son is 50% white/black. He turned out to be a child prodigy on the piano. He learned piano so young, he learned it almost as a language. They could play a piano piece on a CD and he would play it almost perfectly. A couple re-playings of the CD and a little practice and he got it perfectly.

I attended his recital. There were maybe five East Asian boys there, one white boy and my nephew. He placed third of the seven while rarely practicing. The white boy, fiddling with his phone while he waited to be called, placed last. My understanding is that the East Asian boys practiced hours each day and excelled because they took it more seriously and viewed it as a key to success. They were smarter because they MADE THEMSELVES SMARTER through self discipline.

My nephew's interest ultimately faded. Some of the East Asian kiss went on to university degrees in music.

You can be gifted, like George Patton. But combining that gift with self discipline is what wins. He did.

[RebelinSteel]

There are a lot of clever people globally, however where is all the Development and design work carried out? It’s one thing having a good range of education, it’s another thing coming up with the ideas and the freedom to come up with those ideas, then apply them

[purplepoppy]

But are they? They're well documented for being good at maths but how do they fair in other subjects? The impression I get is there education revolves around non stop arithmetic and little else.

[VanillaBomb]

Because they are far more strict on their education compared to the west

[steveusna]

Because everyone in those six countries works sixteen hours a day for two bowls of rice