tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post4366931705465242872..comments2024-01-13T18:57:18.243-05:00Comments on Information Processing: Human capitalSteve Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02428333897272913660noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-77742992972965063282008-11-19T14:42:00.000-05:002008-11-19T14:42:00.000-05:00One thing that this test certainly did not take in...One thing that this test certainly did not take into account is the portion of people who did not even take the test. For example, India's score is somewhat respectable in the low end (even though the high end is bad). However, it has 40% illiteracy rate. Surely no one who is illiterate will be taking the test. By this count, some of the countries with high illiteracy rate will fair worse than Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-35991219553749226432008-10-01T14:03:00.000-04:002008-10-01T14:03:00.000-04:00Steve,This is OT, but I thought you might enjoy re...Steve,<BR/><BR/>This is OT, but I thought you might enjoy reading -- and perhaps blogging about -- this <A HREF="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/01/opinion/01buchanan.html?_r=1&em&oref=slogin" REL="nofollow">op-ed piece</A> in the NYT.Sethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16486234948199900568noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-48173239423568590322008-10-01T01:47:00.000-04:002008-10-01T01:47:00.000-04:00I don't know the full answer to your question, but...I don't know the full answer to your question, but you might find this of interest:<BR/><BR/>http://infoproc.blogspot.com/2005/11/israeli-startups.html<BR/><BR/>Note admission to Talpiot is based on --gulp -- tests!<BR/><BR/>Suppose I have a country with a high performing group that is 1/3 of the total population and the rest a low performing group. Let's say that 15% of the high performing groupSteve Hsuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02428333897272913660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-75174054365585707862008-10-01T00:54:00.000-04:002008-10-01T00:54:00.000-04:00I'm not sure if I'm buying this bimodal theory for...I'm not sure if I'm buying this bimodal theory for Israel. If that were the case there would be large bars on both sides... but it looks pretty similar to some of the other ones near them on the list. Even if you take 1/3 of them to be Askenazi that's over 2 million people. Post-world war II that's about how many Jews there were in the Soviet Union. The supposedly race-free society made them Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-64318772560015802322008-10-01T00:07:00.000-04:002008-10-01T00:07:00.000-04:00I've never claimed tests tell the whole story -- t...I've never claimed tests tell the whole story -- they are an imperfect tool. But they are all we have for quantitative comparisons.<BR/><BR/>I don't know why jews in the US test so well but Israelis don't. I suspect it has to do with the population breakdown (Mizrahim and Sephardim = about 39% of the national population; Arabs 20% of the population; Ashkenazim are only 37% -- according to Steve Hsuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02428333897272913660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-14625144588115116972008-09-30T23:13:00.000-04:002008-09-30T23:13:00.000-04:00I think your fascination with test scores is a bit...I think your fascination with test scores is a bit excessive. While they do mean something, there are many examples where countries that don't test well succeed. Notice Israel is at the bottom of the list. They also don't do well on the same math and science olympiads that correlate with your list. But they do produce top-notch scientists.. it's just exams aren't too big over there.<BR/><BR/>AlsoAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-47746037923029126472008-09-30T22:25:00.000-04:002008-09-30T22:25:00.000-04:00I see our ally Saudi Arabia is the absolute bottom...I see our ally Saudi Arabia is the absolute bottom of the barrel. <BR/><BR/>That figure is poorly done. I wish they'd given a table so I could plot it myself.Lukehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13254747567489443009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-56356193867142394942008-09-30T21:34:00.000-04:002008-09-30T21:34:00.000-04:00DoJ: I don't know what the literacy rates, etc. ar...DoJ: I don't know what the literacy rates, etc. are for Iran. They might be in pretty bad shape. Note I cut the figure in half -- there are many countries below Zimbabwe :-(<BR/><BR/>simfish: yes, there is something mysterious about those Finns :-)Steve Hsuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02428333897272913660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-77921785812348868282008-09-30T21:29:00.000-04:002008-09-30T21:29:00.000-04:00Finland's results are especially surprising. One w...Finland's results are especially surprising. One would expect that its egalitarian school system would also simultaneously depress exceptionally high scores on such tests, but this doesn't seem to be the case here - Finland is still higher than most European countries.Simfish InquilineKeahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07717022374136073702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-70074863821236368242008-09-30T18:26:00.000-04:002008-09-30T18:26:00.000-04:00The Iran result boggles me a bit. Have practicall...The Iran result boggles me a bit. Have practically all the smart people left the country already?Dog of Justicehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02066524758114994073noreply@blogger.com