Jews and Finance (Respectfully)

Water Cooler
#41

Do you mean that EVERYBODY takes calculus? Or is that only for the GT kids? Do they have “advanced” programs and “dummy” programs?

And do you mean “basic” calculus, or do you get into the advanced stuff? (Multivariate, partial derivatives, etc.)

(Not that I know anything about calculus. I took a combined algebra/calc course and don’t remember anything about the calc half.)

#42

Do you mean that EVERYBODY takes calculus? Or is that only for the GT kids? Do they have “advanced” programs and “dummy” programs?

And do you mean “basic” calculus, or do you get into the advanced stuff? (Multivariate, partial derivatives, etc.)

(Not that I know anything about calculus. I took a combined algebra/calc course and don’t remember anything about the calc half.)

#43

In the US, at lower grade levels, I think math is behind Asia, but in HS, it catches up quickly. I don’t think Asian schools go into linear algebra, or real analysis in high school!

I’m pretty skeptical of the Asian attitude towards drilling math into kids, the way I see it, if you have no aptitude for the subject, this time is wasted IMO. OTOH I guess there will be no shortage of STEM grads.

#44

Well in Japan, those are just part of the “math” curriculum, so everyone has to take it (probably in middle school).

Depending on what school you go to and what you choose to take in highschool, you may or may not need to take the advanced math.

#45

I actually disagree… because math doesn’t get easier in highschool for us, i mean, it’s progressively harder but perhaps not at the same rate? but in any case, i don’t think the curriculum in north america is the same as the one in Asia. In fact, not all Asian countries have the same curriculum, but more similar than US is all.

#46

Unlike educational system lead us to believe math IS NOT ABOUT computation, but about abstract definitions. Calculus can be taught in 9th grade, but it really is meaning less. It is by far more important early on to concentrate on logic/games/readings, rather than trying to excel at math. It is also important to have breadth not depth, so if you are taking calculus but have no understanding of basic number theory, you are really wasting your time. Also Most curiculums that i’ve seen have almost no theoreme proofs, and study basic application. It is by far more important to learn how to prove thereme and abstract away concepts than just do a simple plug and chug…

#47

I hope this answers your question

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_antisemitism

#48

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#49

Genius: one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.".

#50

In Europe during the middle ages the learned soceity among the gentiles were priest, nuns, clergy, i.e. folks that didn’t have kids, whereas the jewish community had no prohibition agaist rabbis having children.

#51

And supersadface gets the win. Lending money used to be considered a “dirty” profession hence Jews were forced into it as one of their only career options. Source: learned from a tour guide in Prague 2 weeks ago. Gladwell says the same thing about corporate law I believe.

#52

I don’t believe Jews took to finance due to simply restrictions on other professions or because it was considered “dirty”. I think Botticini and Eckstein nail it. It starts with their origins as merchants combined with their higher levels of literacy. Thanks to their literacy, experience with maritime trade, and urban concentration, it predisposed them to finance and more of what we would call “white collar” professions, and their strength grew through maritime finance.

I don’t think banning people from professions is enough to turn them into financiers. Otherwise CFAvMBA’s people would also be very successful in finance.

#53

I think that’s bit of a stretch to say you can equate African American and Jewish culture. . .

#54

Handeling money being considered “dirty” is definitely accurate. My mom (who is uber Irish Catholic) would tell me that you can’t charge people interest on money or it’s usury. I think because it was considered pious to give without expecting anything in return.

#55

Hey, i am not saying the harder the better, in fact, i think the curriculum in Asia is way too tough. Everyone in Japan goes to cram school starting in Junior High, and i am sure this happens in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Shanghai… as well.

I don’t know if studying harder math early makes one smarter, but i am kind of glad that i did fractions when i was younger because that helped me with my piano lessons (or perhaps vice versa), so i think there are some benefits for learning things earlier on.

just like multiplication for instance, Asian kids have to memorize them since Gr1, and we are very quick in counting by heart. that goes a long way though, i think, but i can’t say much about calculus, as i have forgotten most of it already… :slight_smile:

#56

can you quickly count 77*83?

#57

If you want to be sarcastic about it, there’s no point in discussing this any further.

but my point stands, some countries and cultures are better in some subjects than others, that’s why different countries are good at different things.

#58

77*83… Interesting

That’s (80-3)*(80+3) = 80^2 - 3^2 or 6400 - 9 = 6391

Not sure I would have been able to recognize the trick if I’d simply heard it spoken though. Seeing it on the screen made me think of the difference of squares.

#59

NANA, see above. He was making a point about conceptual understanding – although I wasn’t as savy to catch it like BGayChad :slight_smile:

#60

I did fractions when I was young (maybe 3rd/4th grade, can’t be sure) and had to memorize multiplication tables since first grade also. I don’t know how different that is. Perhaps the Asians spend more time memorizing them than U.S. kids.

Anyway, I don’t think anyone disagrees that there are load of factors specific to a country or group of people (educational system, culture, at least) that could make some people on average smarter than people from another. I’m just not that sympathetic to the genetic arguments, i.e. East Asian people are smarter as a result of their genes. It’s possible, sure, but it’s just a hypothesis at this point.