Woah. Found this vid, worth a watch!

[xiofire]

This is a great video, and pretty much sums up our future and present day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpEnFwiqdx8

[Schmoopy]

What a great find! But now that video is probably outdated, even though it was only made about half a year ago.

Very interesting statistics though.

[Snookerman]

Oh not that stupid video again. “India has more honor kids than America has kids” and the argument is that their population is larger. Manipulating statistics to get their message across. Sure, the message might be true, but don't try to fool me with that bullshit. (Sorry for the rant xiofire, it's not towards you, but towards the creators of that video.)

[xiofire]

Oh not that stupid video again. “India has more honor kids than America has kids” and the argument is that their population is larger. Manipulating statistics to get their message across. Sure, the message might be true, but don't try to fool me with that bullshit. (Sorry for the rant xiofire, it's not towards you, but towards the creators of that video.)

Your thinking too hard. All the video author was doing was highlighting the fact that India has a massive population, not calling America stupid.

[Snookerman]

Your thinking too hard.
There's no such thing.

All the video author was doing was highlighting the fact that India has a massive population, not calling America stupid.
Then why talk about honor kids?

[Medyman]

Oh not that stupid video again. “India has more honor kids than America has kids” and the argument is that their population is larger. Manipulating statistics to get their message across. Sure, the message might be true, but don't try to fool me with that bullshit. (Sorry for the rant xiofire, it's not towards you, but towards the creators of that video.)

I think you're missing the point (or at least misunderstanding it), Snookerman. I don't see what manipulation is going on here. It's just simple arithmetic. India has more kids under the age of 18 than the entire US population (i.e. more than 300 million). So, it stands to reason that if you take the top achievers in India (defined as the top 25% in that video), that number would be larger than the total population under the age of 18 in the US.

It's just a qualitative analysis. The point is that US's comparative advantage is diminishing. I always hear rhetoric about the decline of the US. I think complete BS. Whoever says that, doesn't fully understand geopolitics or economics, I feel. The change that's happening is that countries like India, China, Brazil, etc... are rising - the US isn't "falling".

In any case, there is no denying that the average high-school educated Indian probably has a greater grasp of science and math than the average high-school educated American. When I see surveys that an insane number (I believe it was 60% the last I heard of it - which was a few years ago) of people in the US cannot identify Iraq on a map, I seriously feel ashamed to be in this country. How in the world can you be that ignorant?

Edit - found the article re: geography : http://www.cnn.com/2006/EDUCATION/05/02/geog.test/
I think there is a newer survey as well.

[Schmoopy]

To further your point, here is one of those videos that shows the ignorance of some Americans. It's disappointing but highly entertaining at the same time :p

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6r1IcY1pv0

[Snookerman]

the top achievers in India (defined as the top 25% in that video)
Therein lies the problem. A higher population does not imply higher intelligence. While the statement might be correct, the argument behind it is weak, and that is what bugs me.

[Medyman]

Therein lies the problem. A higher population does not imply higher intelligence. While the statement might be correct, the argument behind it is weak, and that is what bugs me.

Very true. A larger population does not imply smarter citizens. But, that's not the argument here. The argument is India has a ton of kids. The 25% marker is one that's popularly used in US school systems, I believe. At least, I remember it was in my high school, though somewhat indirectly.

I can understand where you're coming from though and I have to agree with your general point. In fact, the average "intelligence" (however you want to measure it) of an US high schoolers vs. an Indian high schooler is probably fairly comparable (if not higher of the US) just by the virtue of the fact that illiteracy is higher in Indian than in the US. But, I'd think you'd be hard pressed to find a general population as apathetic as that in the US. To have all the resources available to us and still not be able to leverage them is kind of pathetic if you ask me.

Maybe we, as Americans, just take it for granted?

[xiofire]

To further your point, here is one of those videos that shows the ignorance of some Americans. It's disappointing but highly entertaining at the same time :p

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6r1IcY1pv0

LOL. That's great.

[Medyman]

It's disappointing but highly entertaining at the same time :p

haha...agreed.

My favorite is the guy jogging that asks if the Israelis or the Palestinians are the ones "throwin the rocks". Love those headphones! Also, I'm a little bit closer to understanding how in the world Bush won that 2nd term.