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It's actually as amazing that Korea beat China. This is only the 3rd time it's happened since both started competing in 1987. https://cl.ly/1M2O2t1h0p1n https:

by ktamura 10y ago

It's actually as amazing that Korea beat China. This is only the 3rd time it's happened since both started competing in 1987. https://cl.ly/1M2O2t1h0p1n https://cl.ly/1M2O2t1h0p1n

magic_beans 10y ago
What is it about Chinese schooling/culture vs Korean that makes China have such an edge here?
- rayvd 10y ago
  Wouldn't it be more about a massively larger pool of talent from which to draw?
  - imron 10y ago
    No. As another poster, compare it to India which is of a similar size, but has a significantly larger gap in results. I say it's far more related to culture and attitude.
- munchbunny 10y ago
  It might not be a schooling thing. China also has far, far more people. The only comparable country is India, and China has consistently out-competed India. I'd be curious why. The part where East Asian countries seem to consistently dominate the top ranks in recent years with top entries from substantially smaller countries like Singapore and Japan seems to suggest that it's not just a population thing. I wouldn't jump immediately to culture though, because that's a lot of distinct cultures to lump into one bucket.
  - andrewwhartion 10y ago
    I'd guess that you could use similar models to those used to predict a country's Olympic medal performance [1] for predicting outcomes at these events. Namely, it's a function of the country's "economic and human resources and the development of these resources". [1] http://freakonomics.com/2014/02/11/predicting-the-winter-olympics-with-economics/ http://freakonomics.com/2014/02/11/predicting-the-winter-oly...
- imron 10y ago
  Long school days, intensive training and drilling of exercises, exposure to 'advanced' math at a younger age, loads of homework, no free time, better disciplined students, and very little life outside of studying - especially in the later few years of high-school for any student interested in gaining acceptance to a decent university.

by ktamura 10y ago

It's actually as amazing that Korea beat China. This is only the 3rd time it's happened since both started competing in 1987. https://cl.ly/1M2O2t1h0p1n https://cl.ly/1M2O2t1h0p1n

magic_beans 10y ago

What is it about Chinese schooling/culture vs Korean that makes China have such an edge here?

rayvd 10y ago
Wouldn't it be more about a massively larger pool of talent from which to draw?
- imron 10y ago
  No. As another poster, compare it to India which is of a similar size, but has a significantly larger gap in results. I say it's far more related to culture and attitude.
munchbunny 10y ago
It might not be a schooling thing. China also has far, far more people. The only comparable country is India, and China has consistently out-competed India. I'd be curious why. The part where East Asian countries seem to consistently dominate the top ranks in recent years with top entries from substantially smaller countries like Singapore and Japan seems to suggest that it's not just a population thing. I wouldn't jump immediately to culture though, because that's a lot of distinct cultures to lump into one bucket.
- andrewwhartion 10y ago
  I'd guess that you could use similar models to those used to predict a country's Olympic medal performance [1] for predicting outcomes at these events. Namely, it's a function of the country's "economic and human resources and the development of these resources". [1] http://freakonomics.com/2014/02/11/predicting-the-winter-olympics-with-economics/ http://freakonomics.com/2014/02/11/predicting-the-winter-oly...
imron 10y ago
Long school days, intensive training and drilling of exercises, exposure to 'advanced' math at a younger age, loads of homework, no free time, better disciplined students, and very little life outside of studying - especially in the later few years of high-school for any student interested in gaining acceptance to a decent university.