Originally Posted by Lina
Him assuming "Asians" are good at math was already stereotypical, but I thought that back then a large number of members of quite a few cultures did hard farm work. How come he singles out Asians?

I can't speak for other "Asians", but as far as I know my grandparents or parents have never farmed a rice paddy, and were entirely self-motivated.

This just stood out to me because a lot of people were picking on it, and I thought it was just ridiculous, but I don't know if the rest of the book was good or bad. My first impression of the book wasn't too great, though. smirk

Its not an Asian thing, but a cultural thing in the sense of where someone comes from, what their parents did, and their parents - what is passed down and stressed from generation to generation.

All things being equal, I will hire a farm kid, musician, or ex-military over all other candidates because their background presupposes discipline, hard work, and emotional maturity - they have had to subordinate their whims to structured tasks on a daily basis - when sick, when sad, when hurt, when glad.

Gladwell looks at many ethnic groups - not just Rice Paddy farming - for examples - and it not ethnicity - but the culture that occupation brings.