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For centuries, Jews in Europe were effectively barred from a great many professions. The big exception tended to be finance (money lending - which Christians we

by wisty 13y ago

For centuries, Jews in Europe were effectively barred from a great many professions. The big exception tended to be finance (money lending - which Christians were often barred from). So Jewish kids had to learn a lot of math, and some Jewish families had a lot of money. There's actually a big boost second-generation immigrants get. They understand the culture they are in, but they feel they need to work hard to keep up, and they aren't too afraid to break the rules (since it's not really their culture).

pedalpete 13y ago
I've read that because they often learn both Hebrew and English as young children, and therefore learn to read and write both left-to-right and right-to-left, this has an effect on the number of neural connections across both sides of the brain which results in an increase in creativity. Unfortunately, I can't find a link which even references this. If this is the case, we may see a similar increase in Muslims in the coming generations as more of them are raised in English speaking cultures (assuming it will take a generation or two for us to have a large enough sample size).
- SqMafia 13y ago
  I would be very skeptical since the same would apply to Chinese Americans too among others.
  - wisty 13y ago
    Like Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen Ning Yang, Samuel Chao Chung Ting, Shing-Tung Yau, Steven Chu, and Daniel Tsui? See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_American#Science_and_technology http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_American#Science_and_tech... Plus the Chinese guy who built China's ICBMs (after the US exiled him, under suspicion that he as sympathetic to his home country ... smart move that was). Oh, and Terrance Tao. There's quite a few Chinese-Americans who did pretty well. I'm not sure what generation they are, and I'd have to check if there's a higher proportion than non-western Americans; but the general idea (which could do with some real verification) is that "outsiders" often pursue a lot of the higher risk careers which "insiders" don't tend to flock to. Just have a look at the students at any hard-core undergraduate course, and count the number of students with black hair. There's not so many famous Asians in entertainment, probably because of the parts available. A Chinese actor is more likely to be offered the role of "ethnic minor character", while a Jewish actor won't be so constrained.
    - SqMafia 13y ago
      You also have to account for both cultures placing a very strong emphasis on education. Judaism is defined by the Torah and Rabbis are scholars. Chinese and other East Asians are strongly influenced by Confucianism which places scholars at the top. Also Indian Americans are well represented in hard core undergraduate courses too. Not sure which direction Indian is read from. If it's the same as Hebrew and Chinese then I might have to concede :-)
  - pedalpete 13y ago
    Here's a bit of anecdotal evidence (as it only takes one subject into account). http://singularityhub.com/2013/10/13/the-secret-to-einsteins-genius-brain-study-notes-unusually-well-connected-hemispheres/ http://singularityhub.com/2013/10/13/the-secret-to-einsteins...

by wisty 13y ago

pedalpete 13y ago

I've read that because they often learn both Hebrew and English as young children, and therefore learn to read and write both left-to-right and right-to-left, this has an effect on the number of neural connections across both sides of the brain which results in an increase in creativity. Unfortunately, I can't find a link which even references this. If this is the case, we may see a similar increase in Muslims in the coming generations as more of them are raised in English speaking cultures (assuming it will take a generation or two for us to have a large enough sample size).

SqMafia 13y ago
I would be very skeptical since the same would apply to Chinese Americans too among others.
- wisty 13y ago
  Like Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen Ning Yang, Samuel Chao Chung Ting, Shing-Tung Yau, Steven Chu, and Daniel Tsui? See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_American#Science_and_technology http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_American#Science_and_tech... Plus the Chinese guy who built China's ICBMs (after the US exiled him, under suspicion that he as sympathetic to his home country ... smart move that was). Oh, and Terrance Tao. There's quite a few Chinese-Americans who did pretty well. I'm not sure what generation they are, and I'd have to check if there's a higher proportion than non-western Americans; but the general idea (which could do with some real verification) is that "outsiders" often pursue a lot of the higher risk careers which "insiders" don't tend to flock to. Just have a look at the students at any hard-core undergraduate course, and count the number of students with black hair. There's not so many famous Asians in entertainment, probably because of the parts available. A Chinese actor is more likely to be offered the role of "ethnic minor character", while a Jewish actor won't be so constrained.
  - SqMafia 13y ago
    You also have to account for both cultures placing a very strong emphasis on education. Judaism is defined by the Torah and Rabbis are scholars. Chinese and other East Asians are strongly influenced by Confucianism which places scholars at the top. Also Indian Americans are well represented in hard core undergraduate courses too. Not sure which direction Indian is read from. If it's the same as Hebrew and Chinese then I might have to concede :-)
- pedalpete 13y ago
  Here's a bit of anecdotal evidence (as it only takes one subject into account). http://singularityhub.com/2013/10/13/the-secret-to-einsteins-genius-brain-study-notes-unusually-well-connected-hemispheres/ http://singularityhub.com/2013/10/13/the-secret-to-einsteins...