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Re:Why are Soviet math textbooks so hardcore in comparison t... by nostrademons on Wednesday April 22, 2020 @12:30AM (#22942200)
I wonder how much the respective cultures and politico-economic systems of those states play into that.

My dad was similarly hyper-tracked: he entered grade school at 7 and graduated at 16 (he grew up in the Philippines, but as part of the expat Filipino-Chinese community, and went to Chinese schools). When my dad tried similarly hyper-tracking me academically (suburban Boston), I got beat up, physically, by my peers. Having been traumatized into becoming a terrible student, I later found out I did much better economically than many of my more academically-diligent college classmates that ended up getting physics Ph.Ds.

The U.S. is fundamentally an exchange economy: you succeed based on how well you can make other people happy. That privileges EQ and social intelligence over IQ and academic intelligence. The USSR was a command economy, and China was an export economy until very recently. Both of those privilege having specific technical skills in areas that are particularly useful to the state, many of which have mathematics and science as a precursor. It wouldn't surprise me if China starts devaluing academic achievement as it transitions from an export economy to an exchange economy. We're already starting to see it with the fuerdai, the children of the new Chinese rich.

Re:Why are Soviet math textbooks so hardcore in comparison t... by kccqzy on Wednesday April 22, 2020 @03:36AM (#22943161)
> I got beat up, physically, by my peers

This is a problem. Regardless of whether hyper-tracking is beneficial, no kid should have to suffer from this kind of bullying. I don't know why bullying in the U.S. is (or seems to be) so much worse than other countries.

Re:Why are Soviet math textbooks so hardcore in comparison t... by kinkrtyavimoodh on Wednesday April 22, 2020 @04:25AM (#22943377)
Teachers in American schools are usually shit-scared of their students, which is the exact opposite of how things are in Russia, China, or even India.

There are many reasons. Parents and students wield too much power in the American school system, and the idea of tying a school's funding to local property taxes makes this worse.

In addition, America lacks the cultural norms of respect and deference for education and educators that are present in more traditional societies like India or China.

Re:Why are Soviet math textbooks so hardcore in comparison t... by stealthcat on Wednesday April 22, 2020 @10:05AM (#22945660)
An American calls his or her parents "you" when talking to them.

Asians always address their parents with words meaning "mother" or "father". Calling them "you" is extremely rude.

We can go on and on how vastly different the norms on respecting parents (and teachers).

Re:Why are Soviet math textbooks so hardcore in comparison t... by DeathArrow on Wednesday April 22, 2020 @06:42AM (#22944164)
In most parts of Europe teachers and educated folks are respected.
Re:Why are Soviet math textbooks so hardcore in comparison t... by cmendel on Wednesday April 22, 2020 @05:08AM (#22943598)
Well there's also the whole "school shooting epidemic" thing. But sure, the 3 billion people in those three countries are all fairly comparable. China:1.4 B India:1.35 B US:0.3 B