[bsder]

> One area where China clearly has an advantage is massive investment in time and budget and respect for education and scholarship that pervades its culture, from individual, family, friends, up to the highest level of society.

My experience is that Chinese have a respect for the record that claims you are educated. Actual education or achievement is irrelevant.

My favorite example of this is a Chinese friend who cashed out of a startup for $22 million but is still a failure because he didn't get a college degree.

[coldtea]

>My favorite example of this is a Chinese friend who cashed out of a startup for $22 million but is still a failure because he didn't get a college degree.

In such a consumerist society as the Chinese, I doubt many average Chinese consider someone with $22 million "a failure".

That could be some academically educated relatives and friends considering him a failure, sure.

But then again that could (and has been) the case in families with heavy academic backgrounds in the US too, where the doctors / university professors / etc for a couple generations parents look down upon the mere "entrepreneur" kid.

[mikekchar]

To be fair, cashing out of a startup for $22 million and being educated are 2 completely different things. I suppose with his new found wealth, he has the means to pursue success in education as well as business ;-)

[Melting_Harps]

> To be fair, cashing out of a startup for $22 million and being educated are 2 completely different things. I suppose with his new found wealth, he has the means to pursue success in education as well as business ;-)

Or one could begin to the see the obvious lack of correlation between having a 'formal education' and that of being financially comfortable. Wasn't the paragon in Tech to be a successful drop out because of the opportunity in this Industry after all? It being a collective big middle finger to the soul crushing nature of the corporate World, and saying to the World their is a different/better way.

In my personal opinion, I think its more one of conformity at best, and signalling of an accepted cultural identity at worst when it comes to Asian culture and degrees. I worked in a lab with almost all of them being primarily of Asian countries (including India) and all of them showed a distinct lack of understanding of what they were doing day to day, or any awareness of or the implications of what their work/labour was doing other than earning money for the company that allowed them to be employed. It was really bizarre and made me feel isolated from work place interactions.

But I came to the conclusion back then that most of it was because they were overworked (we all were, really) and had to send money back home to their respective families in other countries, and that philosophizing about the Health Sciences was just a luxury they couldn't afford as the conclusions were moot--mouths needed to be fed. I felt my position was that of an arrogant Westerner, albeit equally indebted and absorbed about the precarious and fleeting nature of my income in relation to my costs of living. Contradicting the whole 'earn a degree and you'll have it made' narrative that was sold to me since about the 1st grade.

But having spent more time with Asian cultures I think it was more of a 'keep your head down and do as your told' approach to Life, its one that seems very un-Western, as I saw the same thing in tech and even in dating Asian women--where the 'anti-authoritarian,' 'disrupter' or 'non-lemming' personality makes for a good occasional date, perhaps even boyfriend, but makes one unfit for longer term relationships let alone marriage material.

It reminded me of the overly used phrase in Japanese: Shikata-nai, or it cannot be helped to help drive this home most times.

Here is a good example of what I mean (the last paragraph underscoring my point and experiences):

https://blog.gaijinpot.com/beauty-phrase-shikata-ga-nai/