We seem to have an answer to why people suspect India, as as...
Crémieux@cremieuxrecueil
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May 11, 2025
~2 min read
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We seem to have an answer to why people suspect India, as as country, is so much smarter than it is.
Indian immigration seems to be the most cognitively selective immigration known in the sense that the delta between the country and the immigrants is the largest we know of.
Indian immigration seems to be the most cognitively selective immigration known in the sense that the delta between the country and the immigrants is the largest we know of.
Emil Kirkegaard@KirkegaardEmil
We just published a study showing that national stereotypes of intelligence are also accurate. It looks like this.
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I've posted about this study before (), but it re-entered my feed today via @nim_chimpsky_ posting about a new article from @Scientific_Bird featuring this data.
Linked at the end.
Linked at the end.
Crémieux@cremieuxrecueil
Here's something interesting:
There's a strong positive relationship between the PISA scores of natives in countries and the scores of second generation immigrants whose ancestry is from those countries.
This holds up with controls and weighting (solid line).
There's a strong positive relationship between the PISA scores of natives in countries and the scores of second generation immigrants whose ancestry is from those countries.
This holds up with controls and weighting (solid line).
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As noted by @jonatanpallesen last time I posted this, we can also see that Indian immigration is extraordinarily selective by way of looking at immigrant educational attainment, where India is the most elite-biased among those coming to the U.S.:
Jonatan Pallesen@jonatanpallesen
@cremieuxrecueil India may not fit on the line because Indian immigrants to US are even more extremely selected than other groups.
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The more open question, to my mind, is why Indian immigration to Europe is so much less selective.
British Indians are not particularly brilliant like American Indians. They're not dumb, but they're not as often top-scorers:
British Indians are not particularly brilliant like American Indians. They're not dumb, but they're not as often top-scorers:
Crémieux@cremieuxrecueil
How different groups score on IQ tests in the United Kingdom has been a subject of debate for many years.
A recent paper has put that debate to bed by providing us with some actual results from samples of adults.
Take a look:
A recent paper has put that debate to bed by providing us with some actual results from samples of adults.
Take a look:
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I suspect this is due to the British Commonwealth.
Britain's Chinese being less capable than America's Chinese is also explicable via the Commonwealth. The biggest wave of Chinese immigration to Britain happened in the 1950s-60s from HK and it was filled with male farm workers.
Britain's Chinese being less capable than America's Chinese is also explicable via the Commonwealth. The biggest wave of Chinese immigration to Britain happened in the 1950s-60s from HK and it was filled with male farm workers.
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We have some neat stories in selectiveness, and there are plenty more
For example: the story of how the Mirpuri escaping a flood resettled en masse in Britain, brought high rates of endogamy from their particularly cousin-loving area -> explaining Brit. Pakistani weirdness today
For example: the story of how the Mirpuri escaping a flood resettled en masse in Britain, brought high rates of endogamy from their particularly cousin-loving area -> explaining Brit. Pakistani weirdness today
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As to why India's immigration is so relatively selective to the U.S.? I think this models answers that question well.
Slots are very limited (actually quite a big problem), and India is very large, so America gets the creamy layer (not that one).
Slots are very limited (actually quite a big problem), and India is very large, so America gets the creamy layer (not that one).
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Here's a link to @Scientific_Bird's new article. Go check it out: inquisitivebird.xyz/p/the-assimila…
And Lazear's study: journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.108…
And Lazear's study: journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.108…
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@Scientific_Bird Also, we do have American quasi-experimental support for Lazear's model.
Some of the evidence comes from setting up bigger barriers with everyone but Canada. That made the composition of immigrants who got through more elite:
Some of the evidence comes from setting up bigger barriers with everyone but Canada. That made the composition of immigrants who got through more elite:
Crémieux@cremieuxrecueil
This phenomenon applies to immigration: the higher the barriers, the greater the selectiveness.
After the Emergency Immigration Act of 1921, non-Canadian immigrant numbers were limited, and the result was that the observed quality of incoming non-Canadian immigrants increased.
After the Emergency Immigration Act of 1921, non-Canadian immigrant numbers were limited, and the result was that the observed quality of incoming non-Canadian immigrants increased.
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@Scientific_Bird We also have evidence from border walls with Mexico.
Wall goes up, crossing becomes harder, so the ones who make it to the U.S. are more likely to be strivers and are thus more positively selected.
Wall goes up, crossing becomes harder, so the ones who make it to the U.S. are more likely to be strivers and are thus more positively selected.
Crémieux@cremieuxrecueil
It seems walls work:
"[Border fence] construction induces migrants to substitute toward alternative crossing locations, disproportionately deters low-skilled migrants, and reduces the number of undocumented Mexicans in the United States."
"[Border fence] construction induces migrants to substitute toward alternative crossing locations, disproportionately deters low-skilled migrants, and reduces the number of undocumented Mexicans in the United States."
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@Scientific_Bird And, we have additional evidence from India itself.
The higher the score on the Joint Entrance Exam that gets people into the Indian Institutes of Technology, the higher the odds of leaving India.
Not all of these people went to America, but 1/2
The higher the score on the Joint Entrance Exam that gets people into the Indian Institutes of Technology, the higher the odds of leaving India.
Not all of these people went to America, but 1/2
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@Scientific_Bird A whopping 65% did.
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The nature of immigration has changed and I'm told it's become much less elite in more recent cohorts, as there are nowadays more opportunities to excel within India, so maybe this doesn't hold as strongly these days.
But anyway, check out the study: sciencedirect.com/science/articl…
But anyway, check out the study: sciencedirect.com/science/articl…