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This article annoyed me the last time I ran into it because when they go into possible effects they point to test scores to try and quantify the effect of dedic

This article annoyed me the last time I ran into it because when they go into possible effects they point to test scores to try and quantify the effect of dedication oriented children's stories but go to no effort to try and quantify the effect of happiness oriented children's stories despite it would be quite easy to note suicide is almost twice as common in china vs the united states.

whatshisface 9y ago
There are so many differences between the US and China that statements like these ("children's books are raising test scores," "happiness-focused culture is lowering suicide rates") are completely silly. There are innumerable variables at play, and they're all adding to and canceling each other out in wild and unpredictable ways.
fspeech 9y ago
"it would be quite easy to note suicide is almost twice as common in china vs the united states" What is your source? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_by_suicide_rate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_by_su... has US at 12.6 per 100000 and 8.5 for China, with the world average being 10.7. What stands out about China is the much higher ratio of female to male suicides.
aluttik 9y ago
Are you sure you're not mixing up China with other East Asian countries like Japan and Korea? As far as I can tell, China's suicide rate has sharply declined in the last decade or so and is now relatively low.
DanBC 9y ago
> suicide is almost twice as common in china vs the united states. It's very hard to compare suicide rates across different countries. That's because they don't have common definitions of what a suicide is (is it something a coronor has ruled on? Or is it something that's counted by statisticians from death certificate coding?); and because their definitions change over time.

3 ms·

This article annoyed me the last time I ran into it because when they go into possible effects they point to test scores to try and quantify the effect of dedic

by wolfram74 9y ago

whatshisface 9y ago
There are so many differences between the US and China that statements like these ("children's books are raising test scores," "happiness-focused culture is lowering suicide rates") are completely silly. There are innumerable variables at play, and they're all adding to and canceling each other out in wild and unpredictable ways.
fspeech 9y ago
"it would be quite easy to note suicide is almost twice as common in china vs the united states" What is your source? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_by_suicide_rate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_by_su... has US at 12.6 per 100000 and 8.5 for China, with the world average being 10.7. What stands out about China is the much higher ratio of female to male suicides.
aluttik 9y ago
Are you sure you're not mixing up China with other East Asian countries like Japan and Korea? As far as I can tell, China's suicide rate has sharply declined in the last decade or so and is now relatively low.
DanBC 9y ago
> suicide is almost twice as common in china vs the united states. It's very hard to compare suicide rates across different countries. That's because they don't have common definitions of what a suicide is (is it something a coronor has ruled on? Or is it something that's counted by statisticians from death certificate coding?); and because their definitions change over time.