Nat Geo Bee

[Ray1936]

Enjoyed greatly watching the National Geographic Geography Bee last night on the National Geo Channel, hosted by Alex Trebek. I found it interesting that of the 10 finalists, following thousands of local Bees, eight appeared to be of east Indian descent, along with east indian names, one asian, probably of chinese descent, and one anglo-american [[who was booted early).

These east Indian American youths were brilliant, to say the least. How they ever were able to answer some of these little known geographic questions was amazing. I tip my hat to them.

Funny thing is, I couldn't help but notice, every one of them had the personality of an encyclopedia. There was nearly a total lacking of emotion. There was an inability to express feeling. Frankly, I found that a bit sad.

I'm not trying to sound like I'm putting these finalists down; indeed, their futures are bright in academia, I suspect. But there wasn't a one that I'd love to sit down with a couple of beers and shoot the shit with.

Am I wrong? Pick me apart, please!

[Gistok]

I guess if you can spell Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, are 4 times as numerous as Americans, and want to leave your homeland so that you don't have to work the midnight shift in a call center or at that time doing programming support.... then I guess yes... there is some good reason for that... plus it begs the question... do these kids have any quality play time, or are their parents so strict and competitive that they don't allow it.

Put me down for a "don't know"... although I can find Rajasthan, Bihar and West Bengal on a map... although most American kids probably think New Delhi is a recently opened sandwich place down the street...

[oladub]

2012 Geography Bee Finalists

Raghav Ranga, Arizona
Varun Mahadevan, California - third
Anthony Stoner, Louisiana
Adam Rusak, Maryland
Karthik Karnik, Massachusetts
Gopi Ramanathan, Minnesota
Neelam Sandhu, New Hampshire
Rahul Nagvekar, Texas - winner
Anthony Cheng, Utah
Vansh Jain, Wisconsin - 2nd

[rb336]

Yet another bit of people succeeding because their culture values education. Even when I was growing up, in affluent suburbia, in what was at the time one of the best school districts in the country, the smart kids were ostracized.

this anti-intellectualism was driven home by one father's comment to a daughter who wanted to get a book at the library: "What do you need to read for?"

[vetalalumni]

Enjoyed greatly watching the National Geographic Geography Bee last night on the National Geo Channel, hosted by Alex Trebek. I found it interesting that of the 10 finalists, following thousands of local Bees, eight appeared to be of east Indian descent, along with east indian names, one asian, probably of chinese descent, and one anglo-american [[who was booted early).

These east Indian American youths were brilliant, to say the least. How they ever were able to answer some of these little known geographic questions was amazing. I tip my hat to them.

Funny thing is, I couldn't help but notice, every one of them had the personality of an encyclopedia. There was nearly a total lacking of emotion. There was an inability to express feeling. Frankly, I found that a bit sad.

I'm not trying to sound like I'm putting these finalists down; indeed, their futures are bright in academia, I suspect. But there wasn't a one that I'd love to sit down with a couple of beers and shoot the shit with.

Am I wrong? Pick me apart, please!

This is a humorous request Ray.

Obviously, the factual portion of your observations are not wrong.

[Pam]

Funny thing is, I couldn't help but notice, every one of them had the personality of an encyclopedia. There was nearly a total lacking of emotion. There was an inability to express feeling. Frankly, I found that a bit sad.

You don't know what they are like at home. Could be different vs. when they are in the middle of a competition they are trying to win.

[Downtown Lady]

You don't know what they are like at home. Could be different vs. when they are in the middle of a competition they are trying to win.

I agree Pam! They're just kids, they've been preparing for a year, they're probably nervous and are trying to focus. Maybe it's a cultural thing to not show huge displays of emotion in public, but it doesn't mean they don't feel emotion, and it doesn't mean that they don't express it at home in private. Also, maybe it's their game face -- maybe they don't want to show too much excitement while the competition is still underway.

[Patrick]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rote_learning

[jiminnm]

Ray, I agree with you, except for one thing. I don't see these kids in academia as a profession. I see them as future doctors, dentists, lawyers, software designers, engineers of all stripes, business owners, etc., basically any profession that requires serious education and provides for good compensation.

[Zacha341]

I agree too... to be at that level of achievement and academic success a measure of self-control had to be implemented in the prep and event itself. I am sure they are well adjusted, social and fun kids outside that mode.

I agree Pam! They're just kids, they've been preparing for a year, they're probably nervous and are trying to focus. Maybe it's a cultural thing to not show huge displays of emotion in public, but it doesn't mean they don't feel emotion, and it doesn't mean that they don't express it at home in private. Also, maybe it's their game face -- maybe they don't want to show too much excitement while the competition is still underway.

[oladub]

Indian American wins the national spelling bee too.

"In the run-up to the bee, Snigdha studied six to 10 hours a day on weekdays and 10 to 12 hours on weekends — a regimen she'll need to maintain to get through medical school, her father said.

Snigdha is the fifth consecutive Indian American winner and the 10th in the last 14 years."

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0601-spelling-bee-champ-20120601,0,3238767.story

Maybe its time to expand the immigration quota from India.