Why are Asians good at math?

A recent BBC News story compared two questions, one from a Chinese math test and one from a math test from the UK. The difference was fairly astonishing. Chinese people are good at math to an extent we never imagined possible. And this could have staggering implications in the near future, as China continues its ascent as a major economic power.

It's a fact: If world power were determined by math skills alone, then we'd already be worshipping our new Asian imperial overlords. But why are Asians better at math? I can only offer one Asian-American's perspective.

Awhile ago, there was a news story picked up by the Washington Post and many other major news outlets. Here's the Washington Post headline: "For Math Students, Self-Esteem Might Not Equal High Scores." The article said, in part:
The international test results from 2003 and related surveys from 46 countries show that the world's most confident eighth-grade math students are found in the Middle East, Africa and the United States. Of the 10 countries with the highest levels of student confidence, only Israel and the United States scored higher than average on the international test, and their scores were far below those of the much less confident students in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
In other words, even though United States students felt better about themselves, they did worse than other countries (in particular Japan and Korea) in which students thought they sucked at math, didn't enjoy math very much, but scored well nonetheless. Although the article explores the question of whether or not we should even be striving for higher scores if it means a harder-edged approach, I'd like to talk from personal experience, about why there's might be this difference in the first place.

I grew up in a major suburb in New England. Although I went to public school, a good 10-20% of the graduating class went to Ivy League colleges. There was a major Asian population in my school; when I was a senior, one of my honors classes had 15 people, 13 of which were Asians. This is the perspective I speak from, when I give these reasons why Asians are better at math:

1) Their parents - My parents are immigrants. From a cultural perspective, they carried over a lot of their cultural hangups with them when they came here. I had a lot of Asian friends when I was growing up. One common thread that united us, in addition to our Asianness, was the fact that whenever we misbehaved, or whenever we went home with a bad grade, our parents disciplined us. A common Asian story is that when you bring home a report card with 5 A's and 1 A-, your parents will ask you "Why didn't you get that 6th A?" Then next semester, bring home 6 A's, and your parents will ask you "Why didn't you get all A's last semester?" Perfection was the goal, yet always out of reach.

Many of us came from homelife that valued achievement above all else. Our parents immigrated here in search of a better life. Despite considerable cultural and linguistic barriers, they were able to carve out a place for themselves. Consequently, they expected the same sort of perserverance, the same sort of excellence, the same sort of triumph from us, and often they would get it. They certainly didn't blow smoke up our asses.

Oftentimes, when we were young, our parents beat us. It was just a way of life. Sometimes they would get creative and use objects around the house (e.g. a coat hanger). As barbaric as this sounds, many of us considered it a valuable part of our upbringing. It set boundaries for us, gave us discipline, and instilled in us a desire to work hard. Today, we have friends, have jobs, etc. There is no festering mental illness as a result of these beatings; only an occasional fear of coat hangers (j/k).

I think child abuse is a terrible thing. I read A Child Called It too, and some parents clearly have mental problems in the way that they treat their kids. But in American culture, beating your kids, as a general proposition, is strongly looked down upon. Even Tony Soprano doesn't do it, and is ashamed of himself for the one time that he did! There's a difference between child abuse and child discipline. I'm a strong advocate of child discipline is all I'm saying.

2) Their curricula are the hardest in the world - As we've already seen from earlier in this post, the expectations levelled on Asian students are beyond compare, in terms of the "hard" sciences and subjects. In Asia, students are expected to shoot for the moon, especially in math and science. Yet there aren't that many that aspire to be poets, filmmakers, or WWE professional wrestlers. Why do you think the most prolific, talented people in those areas come from the United States? Because in America, we try to value those creative aspects of the human psyche as much as any of the others. In China and Taiwan, they value cold, hard skills.

3) Their schools are oppressive, draconian environments from which there is no escape - Some kids here think 180 days/year for school is a lot. You ain't seen nothing. Schools in China and Taiwan are akin to oppressive regimes. School is run virtually year round with 10-12 hour days not uncommon. This in fact is one of the reasons why my parents brought me over here; they wanted me to grow up with schools that would encourage freedom and creativity rather than regimented discipline.

These factors make Asians better at math and science. But does it make them better, holistically speaking?

I think there's no good answer for the question (and let's be honest; it's not a very good question to begin with). In the end, we've seen that Asians are better at math...but they might grow up feeling like their math skills are worthless. Is that necessarily better? I don't think so; I think it just makes us all different.

For every smart, friendly Asian person you encounter there may be another socially maladjusted one. For every good thing that comes with having sky-high test scores, there's something I could point out that's bad. In the end, it just makes us all (whether we're white, black, brown, red, yellow, etc.) different, disparate parts of the wonderful, brilliant tapestry of humanity that are trying to find some kind of peace, some kind of bond, in America.

Any thoughts?

Why are Asian's eyes slanted?

An epicanthic fold, epicanthal fold, or epicanthus is a skin fold of the upper eyelid, from the nasal bone to the inferior side of the eyebrow, covering the inner corner (medial canthus) of the eye. It is a normal trait for a large percentage of humans. This lower fold of the upper eyelid gives the eyes of some East Asians an appearance which seems relatively narrower and almond-like in comparison to most persons of Western (Caucasian) and Sub-Saharan African descent, whose eyes seem wider due to a higher upper eyelid fold.

The term "epicanthic fold" refers to a visually categorized feature of the eyelid; however, there are different underlying explanations of the causes. For instance, one theory is based on the fact that the fold is almost always associated with absent to near-absent brow ridges and vice versa, thus causing some to posit that the absent brow ridge is responsible for the occurrence of the fold.

Other names for this trait include plica palpebronasalis, palpebronasal fold, and Mongolian eye fold.

Distribution

The epicanthic fold occurs frequently among people of North Asian, Central Asian, and East Asian descent, such as the Mongols, Han Chinese, Tibetans, Koreans, Japanese, Kazakhs, Hazaras, and Kyrgyz. It is also commonly though less frequently found among Southeast Asians and certain other Asian ethnic groups like Vietnamese, Filipinos, Burmese, Cambodians, Thais, Bhutanese, northern Nepalis, Ladakhis, people (mostly tribal) from Eastern Bangladesh and North Eastern India (for example, the Chakma, Marma, the Sylhetis, the Mizo and the Garo), among others. Mixed race people of partially Asian descent, such as Eurasians and Afro-Asians may inherit epicanthic folds.

Epicanthic folds are also common among Native Americans and Inuit. They can also be found inherited among some Oceanic peoples including Tongans, Samoans, Micronesians and Hawaiians.

A minority of people within some African ethnic groups also have epicanthic folds; these include the Khoisans (Capoids) in Africa and certain groups from southern Sudan such as the Dinka and the Nuer.

Epicanthic folds are also found in a minority of Europeans having no obvious Asian background, especially in eastern Europe and across northern Europe in areas such as Scandinavia and Poland, as well as within Ireland and Britain. One of the existing accounts suggests that Europeans who possess the fold also have less prominent brow ridges.

Genetic factors

All humans initially develop epicanthic folds in the womb, with some children losing them at birth.[citation needed] Children who have one parent with a pronounced epicanthic fold, of non-medical causation, and one without the fold can have varying degrees of epicanthic fold, indicating that the trait is in some degree heritable.

Conditions underlying expression

Evolutionary

One hypothesis as to why epicanthic folds came about involves the climates in which populations expressing them arose. Sunlight reflects more intensely off light colored surfaces, such as those prevalent in snowy regions or savannahs and deserts. The theory is that an epicanthic fold in such an environment would protect the eyes from extra UV radiation.[citation needed] The trait may also be useful against strong winds and cold weather such as the ones on the Central Asian steppes.[citation needed] For instance the country of Mongolia is hot in the summer and extremely cold in the winter, with January averages dropping as low as -30°C (-22°F). The country is also subject to occasional harsh climatic conditions known as zud. The capital Ulaanbaatar has the lowest average temperature of any national capital in the world. Mongolia is high, cold, and windy. It has an extreme continental climate with long, cold winters and short summers, during which most of its annual precipitation falls.

With regard to the vast dry grasslands of the savannah regions, the yellow grasses also reflect a higher intensity of sunlight[citation needed][clarification needed]. Additionally, analogous conditions are present among desert groups such as the Dinka or Nuer of Sudan who live in environments in which sunlight reflects off the light colored sands of the desert.

Developmental

Epicanthic folds may be seen in young children of any ethnicity before the bridge of the nose begins to elevate. They may persist where birth is pre-term, and sometimes also where the mother is alcoholic. Epicanthic folds can cause a child's eyes to appear crossed, a condition known as pseudostrabismus.

Medical

Epicanthic-like folds appearing on individuals from ethnic groups that do not traditionally display the characteristic, especially when combined with other symptoms, can be a sign of a number of disorders. These include the chromosome abnormalities associated with Down syndrome, Cri du chat syndrome, Williams syndrome, and Triple-X syndrome, as well as fetal alcohol syndrome, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, and pre-term birth. This coincidental visual similarity previously led to individuals with such disorders being described as mongoloid (referring to the Mongol people); this usage is no longer in favor.

Surgical alteration

In some Asian ethnicities, the presence of an epicanthic fold is associated with a less prominent upper eyelid crease, commonly termed "single eyelids" as opposed to "double eyelids". The two features are distinct; a person may have both epicanthic fold and upper eyelid crease, one or neither.

The procedure of reducing or removing epicanthic folds is epicanthoplasty. It is now an extremely rare procedure. Asian blepharoplasty, however, is a popular form of cosmetic surgery in East Asia. The use of "eyelid glue" or "eyelid tape" (sometimes referred to as "eye glue" or "eye tape") is used to create the appearance of the "double eyelid" by finding a "natural fold" in the eyelid and tucking it in and holding it with an adhesive.

Why are Asians called zipperheads?

It is said to have been coined during the Korean war by frontline troops whom had run over enemy troops in jeeps.

The soldiers claimed that the tire tracks from the jeeps left a pattern resembling that of a closed zipper along the corpse.