Please don't do this on Hacker News. These threads are bad enough as it is without people using them to vent extraneous anger.

We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11183903 and marked it off-topic.

Have you considered the fact that minorities like Indians and Chinese have no problem with being good at math and succeeding in Silicon Valley?

There's a really simple explanation for this: it's because the Indians and Chinese who weren't good at STEM weren't even allowed in the country in the first place.

It's called survivorship bias: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivorship_bias

Have you got any evidence for this, STEM tests at the border? And why would not the same effect play out with hispanics? And why do 2nd and 3rd generation asians so utterly dominate STEM subjects at elite US universities that there are de-facto quotas to limit asians?

But most of all, how did those Indians and Chinese acquire those superior STEM skills without access to the educational resources that are given to all US citizens?

So, I have a long response to each question, but all you really need is this. The groups you singled out as doing well are Indians and Chinese. The two most populous ethnic groups in the world are Chinese and Indians. Do you think that's a coincidence, or do you think maybe we're in a nation that's skimming from the top of two very very large populations?

Now the specifics:

> STEM tests at the border?

You don't need STEM tests to cause this filtering effect, you just need to make immigration contingent on an employer or university wanting you to be in this country. That's what H1-B and student visas do.

> why would not the same effect play out with hispanics?

1. The H1-B and student visa program isn't what brought them into the country. 2. There are fewer of them in the world.

> why do 2nd and 3rd generation asians so utterly dominate STEM subjects at elite US universities that there are de-facto quotas to limit asians?

STEM proficiency is inherited, and the 2nd and 3rd generation Asians are the children of 1st and 2nd generation Asians.

> But most of all, how did those Indians and Chinese acquire those superior STEM skills without access to the educational resources that are given to all US citizens?

Most US citizens do not get a good STEM education. Most Indians and Chinese also do not get a good STEM education, but we don't see the ones who don't.

Well, there are quotas and limits on Chinese and Indian immigration, and thousands of miles of ocean in the way. Mexico has a long, relatively porous border with the the US. In one case, you need to hit the visa jackpot to get over here, in the other you cough up a few hundred bucks to a coyote and take a walk through the desert.

Have you considered that deep-seated biases regarding what different kinds of people are and aren't good at contribute deeply to the success different kinds of people have when they attempt to do different kinds of things?

Sure, and dismissed it.

Not all cultures, not all parenting styles, are alike and produce the same outcomes. Some cultures have more affinity towards academic achievement than others.